A heartbroken Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international football on the morrow of his defeat in the finals of Copa America at the hands of the Chilean behemoth.
Arguably the best player in the world, Messi had been part of four international outings with his national team, none of which were successful ventures. His only major international honour in his country's colours was gold at the 2008 Olympic Games. In spite of having a prolific record at his club Barcelona, with whom he holds eight La Liga titles and four Champions League cups, his retirement at this stage will hold him short of his compatriot Diego Maradona, who was the one who singlehandedly led Argentina to the victor's seat at the 1986 World Cup.
However, he does hold the record for the highest ever goals scored for his country with 55 goals to his name over a total of 113 Argentine caps since 2005, surpassing the previous record of 54 goals by Gabriel Batistuta. Five of those goals came from this year's edition of the Copa America itself.
Reacting after their loss to Chile, Messi was reported to be inconsolable and in no small part due to his failure to convert his shot during the penalty shootout. If he had managed to convert it though, the headlines might have been altogether different today.
Messi blamed himself for the loss, as all greats are wont to do. The decision may have been taken in the heat of the moment, as Messi himself admitted that he was utterly disappointed at the outcome, since he wanted this more than anything else but since it eluded him once again, there was nothing more he could do and that maybe it was time he stepped back.
Messi's retirement may just be the tip of the iceberg of woes for the Argentine national team, with reports circulating that a host of other players were planning to follow suit.
Names like Javier Mascherano, Sergio Aguero, and Lucas Biglia are just to point out a few.
According to other sources, the Argentina FA is quite frankly, one of the most corrupt football governing bodies in the world. With convicted and indicted board members as well as chairmen, and reports of misappropriated funds galore, it's no wonder the top players are choosing just step back and let things sort out first.
Whether Messi's retirement is going to be a permanent blow to the capabilities of the argentine team or just a flesh wound to the hearts of fans all over the world remains to be seen. Much graver decisions have been made in the heat of the moment, and when it comes to someone as emotional as Messi, this is expected since he plays his heart out on the field every single day.
IT will be an extremely difficult sight to watch the team walk out on to the field in next year's world cup, without the smiling face of the to be 30 year old forward leading the way.