Copa America: Time for Lionel Messi To Silence Critics, Lead Argentina to Glory

Lionel Messi is a two-time World Player of the Year, and is currently considered by many to be the best player in the world. 

His form for Barcelona over the last few seasons has been fantastic. With Argentina the host country for Copa America, South America's continental cup, it is time for Messi to emulate that form with his international team.

The 2011 Copa America kicks off tonight in La Plata at 8.45 pm ET.

Argentina has not won a big tournament for quite some time. Their major rivals, Brazil, have dominated the South American scene of late, winning the last two Copas, and providing a greater threat on the world level.

Many will point to Messi's inability to perform consistently for Argentina as one reason for their recent failures, most notably at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

His performance in the 2010 World Cup stands out because of his failure to score a single goal, but were it not for his presence and play in the lead-up to their goals, Argentina's time could have been much worse.

Questionable personnel and coaching decisions by Diego Maradona before and during the tournament affected the Argentina squad as a whole, and Messi alone could not have been expected to drag the team to glory.

There was an abundance of attacking talent in the squad, but no cohesiveness. Other great players in various sports may have had players of similar or lesser talent, but they also had a coach who provided more than just charisma.

Messi does not show any signs of disdain in playing for his nation. In fact, his attitude is quite the opposite. Having been considered the heir to Diego Maradona, there is constant pressure for him to perform in an Argentina shirt.

It is usually the case that players have less of an impact with their international team than their clubs. Indeed, Thierry Henry stands out as another example in his case. Though his impact on French football was evident and he did score some important goals for the French, his overall tally is not evidence of a player of his greatness.

Henry may be deemed less successful with France and Barcelona because of the different style of play, and how the attack catered to him during his time with the Gunners. Despite this, he still scored goals and had a positive impact. 

Messi has known many of his Barcelona teammates for years, spending large parts of the calender year with them. It is obvious then that he is more likely to know their characteristics on the field than those of his Argentina teammates.

The attack may not be catered towards him as much as it was to Henry, but he has the privilege of playing with some of the best players in the game, and playing in a system that he knows very well.

Of course, there are exceptions to the international versus club debate. Miroslav Klose has a fantastic record for Germany, and is somehow on the verge of scoring the most World Cup goals in history, but he has difficulty finding the net on club level. Giovani Dos Santos is coming of the back of impressive Gold Cup and World Cup displays, but he also struggles at club level.

Regardless, Messi is still the best. He can change a game in the blink of an eye and, within the right setup, he will perform as he always does. Since Sergio Batista has taken over the squad, Argentina have proved a more capable side with friendly victories against Spain, Portugal and Brazil, though there was the occasional slip-up.

With a home crowd behind him and the backing of his coach, it is likely that Messi will finally put his international demons to rest.