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#3 A not-so-stellar international career
The way Messi led his team all the way to winning the Olympic Gold for Argentina in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, few doubted that Messi will be a major trendsetter in world football, at both the club and international levels.
Unfortunately, Messi hasn't been able to help the Albiceleste to major trophies and that has raised the question mark over his greatness. He has lost three Copa America finals - 2007, 2015 and 2016 and that has greatly shifted Argentina's South American domination to Brazil and other nations.
The closest he came to winning a World Cup was in 2014, when he captained a spirited Argentina team and they went all the way to the finals. In the final against Germany, Argentina lost by a very narrow margin of 1-0, courtesy of a wonderful goal by Mario Gotze in stoppage time. Messi was awarded the Golden Ball of WC2014 for being the best player of the tournament, but that couldn't match the joy of World Cup Glory.
