Diego Maradona pleads with Lionel Messi not to retire from Argentina

“I want more than anyone to win a title with the national team, but unfortunately, it did not happen”.

Argentines in Buenos Aires who awoke to news that they may have seen the last of soccer great Lionel Messi on their national side, say they have nothing but love and admiration for the man they regard as a hero.

He, however, did not clearly mentioned if he too was going to resign, while some reports have claimed that Javier Mascherano and Gonzalo Higuain were set to tender their resignations. Lionel Messi says he’s quitting Argentina’s national team after loosing a final for the third year in a row, with Chile winning the Copa America 4-2 on penalty kicks following a 0-0 tie Sunday night.

“On top of everything, I missed the penalty kick”, Messi told TyC.

“I feel a great sadness right now that this is happening again”, he added.

The match, which went to penalties after 120 minutes of goalless play-time, could have ended Argentina’s 23-year wait for a major title. These years were also a mute witness to Magical Messi’s rise as the next best player after Maradona and Pele.

“Messi has to stay in the national team”. “Because he has a lot to give, and he will come to Russian Federation in conditions to become world champion”, he continued. However, it’s quite possible that the Barcelona star has stepped down because the road ahead for the Argentina national team is a very rocky one.

While several people commented on Messi’s decision, all eyes were on Diego Maradona who until today (June 28) did not utter a word. “He doesn’t have the personality to be a leader”, he told Brazil’s Pele during an event in Paris.

However, Maradona also talked about the support between Messi and his teammates.

“Lio must go on in the national team”, he expressed on his official Facebook account.

Messi, who moved to Barcelona at age 13, has often faced tough criticism in Argentina because he has failed to deliver the country a major title – in contrast to his repeated success at Barcelona. He has led Barcelona to four Champions League and eight Spanish league titles, scoring 453 competitive goals in 531 games, including a La Liga record of 312 goals. “I tried everything possible”, he continued.

Don’t cry for me, Argentina. According to him, many were dissatisfied with the fact that reaching the finals and then finally losing it to another team simply does not worth it.