Germany vs. Argentina: Lionel Messi Proves He's Ready to Dominate for Argentina

Lionel Messi grabbed a goal in Argentina’s 3-1 victory over Germany in an international friendly and is finally proving that he can translate his dominance to international football.

Messi is the best player in the world, and he continued to prove that this season by scoring 73 goals in all competitions for Barcelona. His accomplishments in club football are beyond reproach, and he has dominated while in a Barça uniform.

However, he has not been nearly as successful when suiting up for his national team. He has played in the past two World Cups for Argentina, but only managed to score one goal in eight matches.

During Argentina’s Copa America appearance in 2011, he failed to hit the back of the net in any of the team’s four matches. 

He has gained a reputation for underperforming while wearing his country’s iconic blue and white striped jersey, and his goal-scoring record at major tournaments supports that claim.

However, looking at his performances in the three friendlies and one World Cup qualifier in 2012 suggests that this all may change at Brazil 2014.

Argentina’s first match of the year was a friendly against Switzerland. This was the first sign that Messi was treating his national team duties differently, and the Little Genius scored a hat-trick to lead his team to a 3-1 victory.

Next up was Ecuador in a World Cup qualifying match. Argentina routed their opponents 4-0, and Messi scored the team’s third goal.

Then came Messi’s masterpiece against Brazil. While this match was described as a friendly, these two countries are incapable of playing nice. Messi was not kind to the Brazilian defense, scoring three goals, including a sensational go-ahead strike in the 84^th minute to give Argentina a 4-3 victory.

He then added his eighth international goal of 2012 against Germany while leading Argentina to its fourth consecutive victory. His most productive goal-scoring output in a calendar year for Argentina previous to 2012 was when he scored six goals in 14 matches in 2007.

One should always be cautious of taking lessons away from friendlies, but there has been a pattern this year of Messi asserting his will on international matches, something that didn't happen before. Look for the trend to continue as Argentina plays four World Cup qualifiers between September 7 and October 16. 

Due to all his accomplishments, it is easy to forget how young Messi is. At just 25 years old, it is certainly possible that he will still get better. When the 2014 World Cup arrives, he will be 27 and should be nearing his peak as a player.

Brazil 2014 will be his time to dominate on the international stage, completing his résumé as the greatest player ever to put on a pair of boots.