Since 1916, South America has been holding one of the most passionate and exciting football competitions to date. Countries like Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico face off to lift the world’s oldest footballing prize. In the near hundred years that the competition has been held, Argentina has won a total of fourteen Copa America titles. The last one that Argentina won was in 1993, which marked the start of a twenty one year trophy drought. This Copa America will be crucial for Lionel Messi as he continues to stamp his legacy into the history books.
When Lionel Messi took his first touch of the ball in the 2007 Copa America Venezuela, the young Argentine knew his chance to prove himself to forty million albiceleste fans. Lionel Messi eventually scored two goals and was an important asset in Argentina’s squad reaching the final, later to be trumped by Brazil 3-0. Messi was remembered for an amazing chip against Mexico. Then came the 2010 World Cup. Expectations were high for the 23 year old, unfortunately he was unable to score a single goal in his South Africa campaign.
In 2011 Messi had a golden chance to win the Copa America in his native country,however the golden opportunity was denied by Fernando Muslera as Carlos Tevez saw his penalty saved by the Uruguayan goalkeeper. Apart from the World Cup (which Messi still thinks was a failure) Lionel Messi had a relatively uneventful 2014, the Argentine failed to win any trophies with his club Barcelona and saw his world cup dreams ended by Mario Gotze in the 113th minute against Germany. Lionel Messi still won the best player award, but had a much smaller impact with Argentina after the group stages.
For Messi to win the Copa America this year will allow him to prove to 40 million Argentines that he indeed can win on the international stage. It will also prove that he doesn’t need the catalan jersey on his back to win trophies. Most importantly, winning an international trophy won’t only end Argentina’s trophy drought but it will pit him as one of the, if not the, greatest players of all time. Every time that the best player of all time conversation is brought up, Lionel Messi is mentioned,but in the end it amounts to “ Yeah but he never did it with Argentina”.
2015 can finally be Lionel Messi’s chance to win a major title for the team that he has not yet achieved silverware with. This Copa America will be no walk in the park for the “albiceleste”, as Argentina advance further into the tournament, they will face the likes of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and in the group stages a weakened Uruguay team without Luis Suarez.
As we grow closer to the much anticipated Argentina vs Paraguay game , we also grow closer to seeing the performance of the widely considered “greatest player on the planet” on the international platform. If we’re excited, just imagine how excited and hungry Lionel Messi will be for a trophy this summer.
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