Mystery Messi .. 33 titles with Barcelona and "zero" with Argentina

Nasser Sadek

Argentina's Lionel Messi has always faced a failure with his country, regenerating with every new failure or defeat of the Tango dancers, prompting us to try to spot the stark contrast between his failure to clinch a trophy for the first time.

The 31-year-old was hit by the Argentine press following a penalty kick in the last World Cup match against Iceland, a tough defeat against Croatia and an early exit by the French side, prompting him to retire internationally.

The criticism was renewed with Messi's first appearance after nine months of absence, against Argentina's friendly defeat against Venezuela on Saturday.

Messi has always been placed in a comparison that is not in his favor (to minimize it) with Maradona, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and the Copa America in 1991 and 1993.

Messi's bright face with Barcelona raises many questions about the secret of his international failure to win trophies at the team level, where he has led Barcelona to win 33 titles, more than his years.
One of his most notable titles with the Blaugrana, he has won four Champions League titles, three European Super Cup titles and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Messi Spanish Catalan

"I have a general explanation and a special one. The general problem is that Messi's problem with his team is mental and psychological in the first place. It has been repeated in a sentence that he did not offer anything to his country's team," commented the football commentator on BBC Sports Channel Hafid Darragi. Such as Maradona in a very negative way, and Argentina is not like Barcelona. "

"As for me, Messi is a Catalan rather than an Argentinian," said Draghi. "As if you were taking a player and setting him up with another team, he would not give a damn, even if he was Cristiano Ronaldo."

Draghi's point of view is that Messi has been living in Barcelona since he was a 12-year-old and has been under intense pressure to represent the Spanish team but has preferred to wear the Argentine shirt.

The Spanish press has often been tempted to feel Messi's choice when he opted for Argentina, who have not won a championship against Spain, who have won the World Cup and the European Championship in two decades.

bad luck
The former Tunisian national Hatem Trabelsi, who is a member of Manchester City and Ajax Amsterdam, said that if Messi had not been so big, he would not have been too lucky.

"Messi plays in Barcelona with a group of outstanding players who help him to show his talents and make a big difference and thus win the trophies. In Argentina, he does what he does and performs excellently but next to him are those who squander easy opportunities like Higuain and Aguero. "He said.

"Messi is also accompanied by luck in the finals, as he did with the final of the World Cup Brazil and the Copa America twice, and this does not diminish the best player in the world," added Trabelsi.

Argentina lacks tools
In an academic analysis of Messi's international failure and his success with Barcelona, ​​the trainer of the African Football Confederation Hamdan Hamad told Al Jazeera Net that the technical and psychological staff are the main cause of the blatant contrast in both cases.

"The player has to be in an integrated performance system in terms of abilities and tools to create and clear the titles of his great individual abilities. This is what Messi misses for his country and finds him in the Barcelona team which has many stars throughout the ages and provides solutions and alternatives to relieve pressure on Messi. To create more, after the departure of Xavi and Anista came Suarez and then Dembli and other stars who help to win titles.

"As for Argentina, there are no tools to help Messi win the championship, even though he is doing what he is doing. Over time, the great psychological pressure on him has become an additional negative factor for his failure in major tournaments such as the loss of the 2014 World Cup final against Germany and the Copa America final against Chile. "He said.

Hamad expressed his feeling that Messi is not comfortable with his team as a result of these pressures, which are increasing with his approach of retirement age and he did not achieve any championship such as legend Maradona.