Former Argentina forward Hernan Crespo believes that Lionel Messi was unlucky not to win a major international tournament during his time representing the national side.
Messi announced his retirement from international football after Argentina were beaten by Chile in the Copa America this summer, and Crespo refused to blame the Barcelona player for the country’s struggles on the big stage.
As reported by Goal, Crespo said: “The Argentina national team is very competitive. If you watch the last three tournaments – two Copa America finals and one World Cup final – you are competitive, you arrive in the final of great events.
“I hope to see our national team win but I don’t want to say that Messi was at fault, it’s not good. Messi played very well. He is the top scorer of the national team. He is the best player in the world. It’s unlucky.
“But it’s not about Messi. It’s about the last 23 years the national team never won [a major trophy]. Yes they won the Olympic games [in 2004 and 2008] but, at the same time, we have lost a lot of finals. However, we are still competitive.
“This is just the way. I think maybe next time we will win.”
Messi scored 55 goals in 113 appearances for Argentina but it remains to be seen whether he will be coaxed out of retirement for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
image: http://www.squawka.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/messi2.png
For now, Messi is focused on his exploits at club level with Barcelona, with Luis Enrique’s side determined to win the Champions League next season.
Barcelona have made three signings so far this summer, with Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne and Denis Suarez all joining the club, and there could well be further arrivals before the closure of the transfer window.
In particular, Barcelona require an additional attacker to provide back-up for the star trio of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
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