Lionel Messi's Disappointments Match Pain of Argentina's Economic Downturn

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- There could hardly have been a more ignominious way for soccer genius Lionel Messi to end the Copa America, the tournament for South America's national teams that is second in importance only to the World Cup.

After being sent off in the third place playoff against Chile earlier in July, the brilliant, diminutive goal machine railed against what he claimed were the sinister forces lying behind the referee's decision.

Refusing to visit the podium with his teammates to receive his medal -- Argentina won 2-1 -- Messi, without offering any evidence, complained: "We don't need to be part of this corruption, of this lack of respect from all the Copa. The corruption, the referees and all that, don't let the people participate in the football, in the show and it ruined it a little bit."

He added that he believed the tournament had been rigged to favor hosts Brazil, which had knocked Argentina out in the semifinals. To make matters worse, the red card had come in a game for bronze, a prize that few powerhouse teams such as Argentina even want to play for.

The incident seemed to encapsulate Messi's national career and the frustrations of many of his 45 million compatriots who idolize him but have become resigned to seeing a national side built around him continually fail.

Other than the Olympics, which Argentina won in 2004 and 2008, the team has not won a meaningful trophy since the 1993 Copa America. Argentina has come close on occasion, including losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany. But perhaps even more important than the results, is the style of play, with Argentina often looking disjointed and Messi rarely showing the brilliance that he routinely displays for his club side in Spain, Barcelona.

The latest disappointment for their national side, and Messi's controversial role in it, has left the star's compatriots unusually apathetic about the "albiceleste," as the team is known in reference to the white and sky-blue of its uniform. It also comes at a particularly difficult time for the soccer-obsessed Argentines, whose country is going through yet another of the periodic economic collapses that have plagued its history for a century now.

Inflation is forecast to top 40% for 2019 while unemployment has hit 10%, the highest level in 13 years. Gross Domestic Product dropped nearly 6% in the first quarter, and the center-right government has even been forced to take out a $57 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, the largest in the organization's history. The impact has been devastating for middle-class Argentines.

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The economic pain Argentines are experiencing only hardens the emotional pain they have for their underperforming national team and its star.

"It feels like it is an issue of character, like Messi shrinks when he plays for Argentina," says Cristian García, a 45-year old Buenos Aires taxi driver. "You can see that he is not happy, that he feels the weight of responsibility when he plays for the national side."

Following Messi's remarks after the game against Chile, CONMEBOL, the South American soccer federation, promptly issued a statement labeling the player's claims "unacceptable." It also noted that losing with grace was part of the "fair play" that the game prides itself on and that referees' decisions are necessarily "human" and "perfectible."

Notes Garcia: "The referees can always be better but we need to look in the mirror instead of blaming them all the time. It's also the other players. When you look at the players around Messi, Argentina just don't have the quality that Barcelona have, to allow him to shine."

The difference between Messi's disappointing form for Argentina and his consistent brilliance over 14 seasons in Spain could hardly be more striking. Messi has a total of 671 goals and 271 assists from 822 appearances for club and country. For many strikers at the top level, scoring at one-third of that level over an entire career would be considered world class.

Appreciating Messi's accomplishments is best achieved by comparing his accomplishments against the two other players who are regularly cited as the greatest soccer player of all time. Brazil's Pele scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games, while Argentina's Diego Maradona scored 293 goals in 582 games.

Pele's higher numbers came from a career played entirely in Brazil and the United States, often against far lower quality opposition than that which Messi routinely faces both in the Spanish league and the European Champions league.

For Barcelona, Messi's trophy cabinet just keeps getting more cramped, with the highlights including 10 Spanish national titles, four European Champions League titles and five of FIFA's Ballon d'Or, the honor given to the best world player of the year.

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Beyond Messi's consistent, unerring brilliance at club level, the biggest difference between the three, however, is that unlike the other two, he has never won the World Cup -- or the Copa America.

Holding that failure against Messi in what is, after all, a team game may be unfair. But debating who is the greatest player of all time, and comparing stars from dramatically different eras of the sport, is also, by definition, a subjective endeavor.

And Argentines and other fans around the world have plenty to debate when it comes to Lionel Messi, possibly both soccer's best player of all time and, at an international level, one of its greatest underachievers.

Simeon Tegel is a journalist based in Lima, Peru, who covers South America. You can follow him on Twitter here.