Buenos Aires (dpa)
Veteran star Lionel Messi, captain of the Argentine national team, is preparing for perhaps his last appearance in the Copa America soccer tournament, which will be held this summer in the United States of America. 37-year-old Messi achieved all his dreams with his country’s national team in recent years, to be rewarded after violent suffering throughout his long career in the “Tango” shirt, which began in 2005 under the leadership of coach Jose Pekerman.
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star played 181 international matches for Argentina, during which he scored 106 goals.
Messi went through major football milestones with Argentina, where he appeared in 5 World Cups, starting from Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018, and finally Qatar 2022, during which he scored 13 goals in 26 matches.
The current captain of the Argentine national team is also preparing for his seventh appearance in Copa America, after 6 previous appearances in 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021, during which he scored 13 goals in 34 matches.
Lionel Messi lived through very difficult moments, after losing three consecutive finals in the 2014 World Cup against Germany, then the 2015 and 2016 Copas against Chile, and before that losing the Copa America final in 2007.
Lionel Messi was subjected to extremely violent criticism that caused him to collapse psychologically at times, and at other times he cried bitterly on the field in grief for lost glory, in light of a constant comparison between his failures with his country’s national team versus his extraordinary achievements with his Spanish team, Barcelona.
Messi built a great legacy with the Catalan team, winning all possible tournaments, over a period of more than 15 years, until his departure in the summer of 2021, to move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Thanks to his achievements with Barcelona, Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or for the best player in the world 5 times in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015, without any significant achievement with the Argentine national team.
But the situation has changed a lot with Lionel Messi since the summer of 2021, when he lifted the Copa America Cup, after defeating Brazil, the host of the tournament, in the final match, raising the first cup with his country’s national team, and a few months later, the Argentine national team was crowned with the “Vinalisma” Cup after defeating its Italian counterpart, the European champion. Three goals without a response at Wembley Stadium in the British capital, London.
The two achievements gave Lionel Messi the Ballon d’Or award again in 2021, before he achieved on December 18, 2022, the most important title in his career, after lifting the World Cup at Lusail Stadium in the Qatari capital, Doha, after defeating France on penalties in the final match, after an exciting confrontation and a direct challenge against… His teammate at Paris Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappe, ended in a 3-3 draw in regular and extra time.
Messi won the Ballon d’Or and The Best awards for the best player in the world again in 2022 and 2023, and he surprised everyone by continuing and not retiring, but he decided to get away from the pressure by ending his career in European stadiums, moving to Inter Miami in the United States on a free transfer deal in the summer of last year.
For greater psychological and mental comfort, Messi convinced his former Barcelona teammates to follow in his footsteps, as the trio of Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and then Luis Suarez joined the ranks of the American club.
For the first time, and perhaps the last, Lionel Messi will compete with his country’s national team while holding the title, given that his fate or chances of participating in the next edition of the 2026 World Cup in America, Canada and Mexico have not been confirmed. Messi and his teammates are preparing for gradual tests of strength in the first group of Copa America 2024, as they begin the journey by facing Canada on June 21, then they will face Chile and Peru 25 and 29 in the second and third rounds.
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