Lionel Messi Commits to Argentina After Winning UEFA Award with Barcelona

Lionel Messi is adored by connoisseurs of European football, as was evident when he won UEFA’s award for Best Player on Thursday. But in his homeland of Argentina, they aren’t quite as hung up on the Barcelona star at the moment, although Messi has insisted that despite reports to the contrary, he remains committed to his country.

Speaking at the UEFA ceremony, the forward swatted aside talk that he was considering taking a step back from the international scene, per ESPN FC:

"

I never said that I wasn't going to play any longer with the national team. More than how they killed me [media], they weren't going to kill me any more.

I am used to them saying these types of things. Now we have friendlies and as long as the coach calls me up I am going to continue to be present.

"

VALERY HACHE/Getty Images

As noted in the piece, Messi drew scathing criticism from some sections of the Argentine media after the Albiceleste lost the final of the Copa America against Chile and subsequent reports emerged suggesting the four-time Ballon d’Or winner may be considering retiring from international football.

There are plenty who think he should do. Argentina coach Tata Martino said he would have “stopped playing with the national team a long time ago” if he was criticised to that extent, per the previous piece. In addition, fellow Albiceleste forward Carlos Tevez recently told Canal America (h/t AS) that “if I was Messi, I'd have told Argentina to go to hell.”

Luis Hidalgo/Associated Press

As we can see here courtesy of these statistics provided by WhoScored.com, Messi turned in some incredible displays for the national team at the last major tournament, most notably against Paraguay in the semi-final:

Granted, Messi has never scaled the same heights for Argentina as he has done with Barcelona. This Blaugrana side and its predecessors have been meticulously built around Messi to enrich his mercurial talents and the results, goals, trophies and records he has helped plunder make it all worthwhile.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Various managers for Argentina have tried and failed to get the best from Messi down the years and while his international record is still impressive—46 goals in 102 games, per transfermarkt.com—there’s always a sense of there being something missing when watching the Barcelona man in international colours.

As we can see here courtesy of Moneli Inc., Messi’s trophy haul at club level really does speak for itself:

Encouragingly, Argentina will have another chance to crack the Messi code moving forward. At the Copa America there were some signs that the skipper is beginning to finally become better accustomed to the role of being the team’s talisman and the World Cup qualifiers for Russia 2018 will be an excellent chance to experiment with how to get the best from the forward.

But to lay the blame at the feet of Messi is a little peculiar from those in the Argentine press who did choose to criticise him. After all, the Barcelona man has dragged his nation to two major finals in the past two years; perhaps it’s time some of the Albiceleste’s other players took on a share of the responsibility Messi has to shoulder every time he runs out for Argentina.