King of Europe Lionel Messi Now Sets Eyes on Copa America Crown

So far in the football year, 2015 has belonged to just one man. Lionel Messi has stepped up his game to outrageous levels to play a crucial part in Barcelona's historic second treble, and the inspired No. 10 confirmed that when it comes to pure talent, he really is on another planet compared to his closest rivals. 

But the heroics of La Liga, Munich and that once-in-a-lifetime (for most mere mortals, anyway) strike in the Copa del Rey final against Athletic are over. Now, the Argentina captain must focus all his energies into international football and a Copa America both he and the Albiceleste sorely long for. 

Messi has had precious little time to relax after picking up the fourth Champions League medal of his career. The day after Saturday's final, he kicked back with coffee, croissants and the iconic over-sized trophy, as Goal reported, but almost as soon as the victory parade in Camp Nou was over, La Pulga was on the way to La Serena, Chile, where he will meet up with the rest of the Argentina team. 

The captain will have just four days with team-mates before the show kicks off for Argentina. But having gone so close to winning the World Cup last year, he must know that the Copa America is a golden chance to finally pick up silverware for the first time with the senior national team. 

An ongoing trophy drought for the Albiceleste at full level cannot be considered anything else but an historical aberration. One must look back as far as 1993, no less than 22 years ago, to find the last time an Argentine captain lifted a major international trophy. 

There in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Alfio Basile's men took advantage of an inspired Gabriel Batistuta to take home the Copa America. The blond assassin smashed home two goals in the final against Mexico to mastermind victory, ably assisted further back by a young midfield pairing that went on to have rather successful careers themselves—do the names Diego Simeone and Fernando Redondo ring any bells? 

That generation should have gone on to win many more pieces of silverware, but fate and misfortune, or perhaps a lack of killer instinct when it really counted, conspired to keep the cabinet bare. Javier Zanetti, Claudio Lopez, Pablo Aimar, Juan Roman Riquelme, Roberto Ayala, Hernan Crespo, Esteban Cambiasso, Ariel Ortega, Javier Saviola, Juan Sebastian Veron: countless world-class players failed to revert the losing streak for the South American powerhouse over the last two decades. 

Now it is the turn of a new golden generation to finally deliver. The likes of Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano are talents that would walk in to almost any club side in the world, while Messi deserves to at least be mentioned in the same breath as Pele, Maradona and Di Stefano when the subject of all-time greatest arises. 

So far, however, the generation's international era has been an exercise in frustration. For the last three World Cups, the Teutonic titans of Germany have stood between Argentina and success; the results have differed in magnitude, but defeat has been the constant.

Messi has already demonstrated with that marvellous strike against Bayern that in 2015, at least he has the measure of the Germans. That superiority comes too late to change history in Rio de Janeiro, of course. But to triumph in the demanding Copa America, against dynamic hosts Chile, talented Brazil and Colombia—not to mention the weakened, but always fiendishly hard to beat Uruguay—will take every bit of magic the four-time Ballon d'Or winner still has left in the tank.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

"You wanted the three trophies? Well here they are!" Messi yelled at the thousands of Barcelona fanatics who crowded the Catalan city on Sunday, per Marca. His home public will be no less demanding. Only victory in Chile and the end of 22 years of hurt will do for Argentina having gone so close in Brazil last July.

It has been a long, punishing season for the best player in the world. But he must dig deep for one final effort as the Albiceleste go for the top prize in what will undoubtedly be a fiercely competitive month of football. 

Daniel is a writer, journalist and South American football expert based in Buenos Aires. Follow on Twitter