Barack Obama Talks Argentina's World Cup Woes Despite 'Wonderful' Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi and Argentina will come under scrutiny once again as they gear up for the 2019 Copa America, but one take on their struggles has come from an unlikely source, former U.S. President Barack Obama. 

Obama spoke at the EXMA Conference in Bogota, Colombia, on Tuesday and discussed the need for teamwork.

Per Goal's Sacha Pisani, he said:

"Even people that we consider geniuses work with other people in order to develop their style.

"In Argentina, even though Messi is wonderful, they have problems winning the World Cup.

"My advice to young people is that we have to recognise very few people achieve great things on their own."

Messi is considered by many to be the best player in football history, but those who do not share that view point to his lack of success on the international stage.

Aside from an Olympic gold medal from Beijing in 2008, Messi has failed to win any honours with La Albiceleste.

He is the country's record scorer with 65 goals in 129 appearances and has helped Argentina reach four major finals—the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Copa America in 2007, 2015 and 2016—but they fell short on each occasion.

Messi isn't the only top-class talent Argentina have had in that time, particularly in attack—the likes of Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero have also been part of the team at the peak of their powers. However, the team have often struggled for chemistry on the pitch, and there hasn't been much stability off it, either.

Lionel Scaloni is the ninth manager the 31-year-old has played under since he made his senior debut, while Claudio Tapia is the fourth president the Argentinian Football Association has had since 2014.

Argentinian football expert Roy Nemer does not expect much from Scaloni this summer, either:

Messi's presence in the side will always give Argentina a chance in individual matches because of his ability to make decisive contributions out of nowhere from open play or a set-piece.

More is needed to win a tournament, though, and too often La Albiceleste's other high-profile players have fallen well short of the standards they're capable of.

Unless they can do so and achieve some fluency as a team in Brazil next month, it's likely to be the same old story for Messi and Argentina.