Messi's Retirement: Right or Rhetoric?

Lionel Messi has announced he is done playing for the Albiceleste following their penalties loss against Chile at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday.

Regarded as one of the best players of all-time, Messi’s decision has dropped on the football world like a bombshell and many football fans wonder why he has taken that decision at an age that gives him an additional six years to compete for honours with the Argentine national team.

Messi’s reasons for leaving the team at this heated stage would be many but looking at his performances, here is an expert analysis as to the question why?

Messi Wants to End The Feel of a Psychological Barrier?

Messi is human and would always feel that there is this barrier he needs to cross anytime he wears the Argentine shirt but on the other hand, he has had four chances to make that count but then time is virtually running out.

After three world cups in 2006, 2010 and 2014 where he made the final in 2014 and lost to a Mario Gotze goal, he has also played in three Copa America finals losing to Brazil 3-0 in 2007 and losing the last two to Chile in succession.

Big teams are tagged as successful because they always win and their sub-conscious minds have been thwarted to understanding only that.

Messi’s Argentina adventure is all surrounded round losses and his sub-conscious keep fighting and has gradually accepted that and is prepared to act on it, something he cannot see continue anymore.

Messi Not Worried Over What Pundits Say Anymore

The question about who the greatest player of all-time is still lingers on and Millennials tag Messi with that honor but older generations tend to differ because of the exploits of Diego Maradona with Argentine soccer.

Messi feels that he does not need to carry on with a national team career that is used by many people as a yardstick to measure his greatness to Diego Maradona.

With 55 goals in the bag already breaking Gabriel Batistuta’s 54 makes Lionel Messi one of the greatest footballers of Argentine soccer and one that he relishes because of his self-imposed failure with the Albiceleste and the standards set by Diego Maradona with Argentina.

Many players have retired from football and rescinded their decisions. Zinedine Zidane retired from international football but came back to help the French team cross over to Germany and reached the finals in the process.

The question that now arises is would he get back to Argentina and would he be able to cross over that psychological barrier?