Debate sparks off over Messi's stature after Argentina's France-caused exit from WC
Argentina's Lionel Messi reacts during their match against France at Kazan Arena Stadium. Pic/Getty Images
Can Lionel Messi be regarded as 'The Greatest' without a World Cup win? The debate rages on after Argentina's premature exit from Russia 2018.
Messi is a mesmerising talent, with a trophy collection and goal record to match at Barcelona. Yet Argentina have fallen short. Again. It is likely Messi, who turned 31 on June 24, has played in his last World Cup finals. The famous trophy will almost certainly prove elusive.
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A giant all the same
The magician from Rosario may stand at 5ft 7in (1.70m) in his studs, but his talent makes him a giant, with 500 goals for and 17 major trophies with Barca before the age of 30.
Messi arrived in Catalonia as a prodigious 13-year-old, a junior sensation with hometown club Newell's Old Boys, after Barca director Charly Rexach proffered a contract written on a napkin. Initially stricken by homesickness and hampered by a growth hormone deficiency, Messi let his football do the talking, running rings around his vaunted team-mates in training at La Masia.
A stunned Argentine fan on Saturday. Pic/Suman Chattopadhayay
His predecessor as Barca talisman, the abundantly talented Ronaldinho, took a shine to the shy boy and encouraged then boss Frank Rijkaard to promote him to the first team in 2005.
Messi never looked back. Once Barca had swerved a big-money bid from Inter Milan, the 18-year-old forward began to steadily lock down a starting place and was unfortunate to miss the 2006 Champions League final victory over Arsenal in Paris with a hamstring injury.
That disappointment behind him, he spearheaded Barca's domestic revival under Pep Guardiola. He had taken the number 10 shirt from the departed Ronaldinho in the summer of 2008 and the season that followed ended with 38 goals in all competitions and a league, cup and European treble. Now an immovable object in the starting XI, under Guardiola, playing mainly on the right wing, Messi improved his already fantastic goal-scoring record and soon operated without positional constraints as a 'false nine', or free-thinking forward.
Magnificent record
Four consecutive Ballon d'Or awards went his way as he carried Barca into the post-Guardiola era, and in 2011-12 he scored an eye-watering 73 times - albeit not enough to stop Real Madrid winning La Liga.
A succession of injuries and doubts about his long-term future in Barcelona meant performances dipped before the 2014 World Cup, but in Brazil Messi fired Argentina to the final.
Such has been the level of his frustration over a drought of honours on the international stage, Messi briefly turned his back on his national team in 2016. That came after a fourth runners-up finish at a major tournament in nine years as Chile won the Copa America final in which Messi missed a penalty in a shootout. He reversed his decision inside two months.
Some say he has not performed for his nation, yet it was Messi who dragged Argentina to the 2018 World Cup finals, scoring a hat-trick in the final qualifying match with Ecuador to secure an automatic qualification place which had looked a forlorn hope. He will seek to continue to challenge the limits with Barcelona, even if he no longer will with Argentina.
James Cann
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