Why 2016 Will Be the Year Lionel Messi Strikes Gold with Argentina

If Argentina are to break their 23-year trophy drought with the Copa America Centenario crown, Lionel Messi will once again be vital to their chances.

But worrying scenes in San Juan, Argentina, showed the Albiceleste will also have to keep their captain and talisman wrapped in cotton wool to make sure La Pulga can explode stateside over the course of June.

It was a picture no Argentina fan could stomach. Messi was forced to limp off in Friday’s first and only Copa warm-up against Honduras after taking a nasty hit to the back on the way to a 1-0 win over the feisty Central Americans.

The Barcelona wizard was later cleared of serious damage and will almost certainly be fit to take the field against Chile for the nation’s opening match of the Copa on June 6. The fact that the incident caused such distress among the team itself, however, shows his importance to a successful campaign.

“We are worried about Messi. There is always a chance of this happening in the last friendly and it is a concern,” coach Gerardo Martino told reporters in a press conference after the win. “But we have to play these games, because it is the last one before the competition—and it could also occur in a training session.”

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Martino’s concern is well-placed; after failing at the final hurdle in last year’s final to hosts Chile, a win would give the ex-Barcelona coach breathing space at the Albiceleste helm, and his fate would appear to be tightly bound to the fitness of his No. 10.

Thankfully, he appears to be on the mend. Argentina team doctor Daniel Martinez told La Nacion on Sunday, via Goal, that his patient was progressing well after the scare.  

"Messi is better, he has less pain. His recovery is day-to-day, there are various treatments for this type of hit," he explained.

The star will continue his convalescence in Rosario, Argentina, while his team-mates start preparations in the U.S., and once the pain has gone, he will start regular training in Santa Clara ahead of June 6’s Group D opener.

Before his injury, Messi gave some indication on Friday as to how we might see him in the Copa itself. While in this year’s World Cup qualifiers the Barca star had occupied his usual post at the Camp Nou, drifting in from wide on the right, the Honduras clash saw him take a more traditional playmaking role with goalscorer Gonzalo Higuain lining up at centre-forward.

The role brings back unwelcome memories of Messi’s frustrated performances in the World Cup and on countless occasions for his nation. Forced to track back and keep his team moving, La Pulga ends up a rather peripheral figure shorn of the chance to make an impact in front of goal.

Without the midfield talent that has characterised Barcelona’s dominance over the last decade, what Argentina have in fact desperately needed is two Messis; one to create and one to finish off moves in the penalty area.

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In 2016, though, Martino may just have found the solution to that dilemma. Erik Lamela has evolved during Tottenham Hotspur’s excellent Premier League season from a talented but raw forward to a hard-working, creative midfield linchpin.

The ex-River Plate player did not enjoy the best of games on Friday, but the signs are there that he could prove the perfect foil to Messi further up the pitch, while Angel Di Maria provides plenty of pace and explosion roving out wide and pulling the defence out of position.

Javier Pastore was the last player Martino tried to mould in a similar role. The Paris Saint-Germain playmaker, however, failed to make his case as a consistent partner for his captain, hampered by injury and mixed performances at both club and international level. His latest muscular problem is almost certain to rule him out of the Copa America, leaving Argentina rather threadbare in the creative department.

Argentina’s tactics are unlikely to be static across the tournament. The presence of Higuain in the starting XI will most likely leave Messi as a foil to the main striker, much as he learned to play just behind Luis Suarez in Barcelona’s double-winning season to such devastating effect.

If the more mobile Sergio Aguero gets the nod, Messi will undoubtedly push further ahead to link up with a player he knows well from years of close partnership, from Argentina’s successful tilt at the Under-20 World Cup all the way back in 2005 to the present day.

The Centenary Copa America is one of the most open in recent years. Brazil, on paper, field their weakest team for some time, with captain Neymar saved for the Olympics, but as the 2007 edition showed, the Selecao are sometimes at their most dangerous when sending out unfamiliar players with everything to prove.

Uruguay and Paraguay are also confirmed dark horses, despite the prospect for the former of beginning the tournament without the injured Suarez.

Chile, meanwhile, are still getting to grips with life after inspirational coach Jorge Sampaoli. But Alexis Sanchez and Co. have lost none of their competitive spirit, and with the pressure of breaking their international duck lifted following the 2015 triumph, they will again be a tough prospect for any team in the United States.

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But this special edition of international football’s most enduring tournament is Argentina and Messi’s to lose. Martino has his critics, but unlike almost any other of the top candidates for the trophy, he has the luxury of an established first XI and, most importantly, the best player in the world at the very top of his game.

Messi came desperately close to glory with the Albiceleste in 2014. The following year, he was left disconsolate again as a penalty shootout crowned Chile champions on home soil.

Now is the moment to finally break that hoodoo at international level and for La Pulga to carry his side to success as he has done so many times with his all-conquering club.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.