Barcelona and Argentina’s superstar will not wear his personalised Adidas Messi 16 football boots again in international football, as he announces his retirement from the Argentinian team.
The forward has been signed to Adidas since February 2006, reportedly earning an incredible £400,000 per year initially. Before that, he had been signed with Nike from the age of just 14, but chose to leave as he reportedly was receiving £300,000 less than what Nike was offering him.
His retirement was announced in the early hours of Monday morning following his side’s loss in the Copa America to Chile. Marcelo Diaz for Chile and Marcos Rojo both saw red in the first half of the game which ended 0-0. The second half was also goalless, sending the final into extra time.
Neither side could score in the additional 30 minutes, so penalties was needed to get a winner. It was Chile who proved more decisive from the spot, as they won it 4-2 after Messi himself missed his penalty- failing to even hit the target.
It brought the Barca man, who has won La Liga, Spanish Supercup, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Copa Del Rey all at least three times, as well as a numerous amount of individual accolades, to tears after conclusion of the match. His illustrious club career has not been matched on the international stage, as an Olympic Gold Medal is his only major success for Argentina.
In 2014, Argentina lost the World Cup Final to Germany in extra time thanks to a Mario Gotze strike. Also, they have come runners-up in the Copa America in 2007 against Brazil and in 2015 against Chile again on penalties before this year, and it seems like Messi has accepted it is just not meant to be.
‘For me, the national team is over,’ the 29-year-old said.
‘I’ve done all I can, it hurts not to be a champion.
‘It’s been four finals, I tried.
‘I think there are a lot of people who want this, who are obviously not satisfied, we are not satisfied in reaching the final and not winning it.’
So it seems that one of the world’s greatest, if not the greatest, will hang up those football boots. However, there has been a lot of speculation regarding the sincerity and longevity of his threat.
‘It is the thing I wanted most, but I couldn’t get it, so I think it’s over,’ is a quote from the man himself, who uses the term ‘think’ rather than just saying ‘it is over.’ Is this something for Messi fans to cling on to?
Teammate Sergio Romero added hope, saying: ‘I think he spoke while he was heated, I cannot imagine a national team without him.’
So whether he does decide to retire for good, not at all or make a heroic comeback in time for the 2018 World Cup, it seems that for now at least, international football will be without one of its great stars.
