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Yet another international tournament, and yet another underwhelming elimination for Argentina and Leo Messi. International football hasn't been kind to Barcelona's little magician.
For all the incredible things that Messi has accomplished, for all the mind-bending numbers he registers on an annual basis, success with Argentina is the yardstick by which he is continually measured.
And the numbers don't make for good reading - in 20 knockout matches for his country, Messi has scored just 4 goals. That's 1 in 5 matches - from a player who once scored 92 goals in a calendar year.
It seems like some of the criticism that's gone his way is certainly deserved. Messi has shown us time and again that he's capable of pulling off the kind of stuff that most professional footballers can't even dream of, and yet he's failed to deliver for Argentina when it matters the most.
That's not to say that he hasn't produced some truly incredible performances in that hallowed blue and white shirt of the Albiceleste. That glorious hattrick against Ecuador in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers comes to mind - Messi literally carried his nation to Russia that night. But it's not the same as a World Cup final against Germany, is it?
His record in major finals is brutal. Leo led his country to 3 finals in 3 years (the 2014 World Cup, and Copa America 2015 and 2016), and lost all 3 matches. In the 2015 final, he was the only Argentine to convert his penalty in the shootout against Chile, and a year later, he missed the target against the same team in a similar shootout.
After that fateful night in New Jersey, Messi and several other teammates announced their retirements from international football - a moment in his career that would come back over and over again to haunt him.
That symbolic gesture was done because of the AFA's painfully obvious incompetence, a gesture that was meant to be in defiance to those in authority. Instead, it was interpreted by the legions of trolls on social media as a reaction to the immense frustration Messi must have doubtless felt when that spot kick went flying over Claudio Bravo's crossbar.
In spite of his last minute heroics to send his country through to the 2018 World Cup, no one really had high hopes for the tournament, considering Argentina's dismal performances in qualifying. As Jorge Sampaoli chopped and changed his preferred XI, an electrifying performance by Kylian Mbappe in the last 16 sent them crashing out yet again.
This summer was his last chance. Copa America 2019. Messi turned 32 a little over a week ago, and he'll be 35 by the time Qatar 2022 comes rolling around.
So this was it. His last chance to emerge from Diego Maradona's shadow.
Argentina labored through the group stage again, leaving it till the last match against Qatar to secure qualification to the knockouts. Venezuela were brushed aside in the quarters, and a mouth-watering tie against Brazil awaited.
The Selecao. That eternal continental rival. At the end of 90 minutes, Brazil had 4 shots on goal opposed to Argentina's 14. Brazil had 2 goals opposed to Argentina's 0.
Messi has time and again shown us that you can never make the mistake of writing him off. He's single-handedly hauled club and country out of seemingly impossible situations, but when he uttered the following words after the semifinal, it felt like there was no coming back:
"They were not better than us. They found the net early and the second goal came from a penalty they didn't award. They [the officials] had called a lot of bulls**t, but they didn't even check the VAR, that's unbelievable.That happened all over the game. At the first glance of contact, they ruled in their [Brazil's] favour and this kind of bulls**t distracted us from the game."
International football has truly broken the Argentine wizard. Because in all the years that we've enjoyed watching him, all those years of endless comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo, over two decades of unmatched global dominance, there was one thing we never associated with him.
Arrogance. That was always Ronaldo's thing.
Irrespective of the quality of officiating, those are not words we would generally associate with Messi. That indignant player who lashed out at the referees was not the soft-spoken, humble genius we've come to love and admire.
But at the end of the day, it's understandable. Leo Messi is human after all.
It's truly an outrage that one of, if not the greatest player to have ever stepped on a football pitch will depart the beautiful game without an international honour to his name. It's something that will tarnish his legacy for years to come.
Ronaldo has 2 international trophies for Portugal now, and that should seal his place in football's echelons. For future generations that will view this era in terms of statistics and numbers, there will be no doubt as to who was better.
That's the cruel nature of this sport that we all love. History will never allow us to view these 2 modern legends as they should be - as 2 vastly different players who conquered the footballing world with the sheer absurdity of their talents and determination.
It's time to cut Messi some slack. He's proven that even the best of us are prone to failings, so let's enjoy the few more years of mesmerizing football while we still can.
