Lionel Messi quits Argentina after Copa America loss

Lionel Messi called it quits with the Argentina national team after his third straight finals loss.

When the Copa America Centenario Final went exactly the same way it did last year, with Chile winning in penalty kicks after a scoreless 120 minutes, Lionel Messi and Argentina were visibly upset. Messi especially so after he missed a crucial penalty kick to start things off. But as it turns out, that missed penalty turned out to be his final kick in an Argentina shirt, since he has reportedly retired from the national team.

His teammate Sergio Aguero also said that after missing his penalty, he was a “broken man.” For someone whose career has been full of milestones and impressive accomplishments, he still doesn’t have an international trophy to his name, and this loss was just one in a string of three straight dating back to 2014.

Here’s a look at his missed penalty, with a twist added by The Cauldron:

But given his expression afterwards, I don’t think you needed Crying Jordan for it:

The situation has become such a mess that the Argentina Football Association is being taken over by FIFA at the moment until they can elect a new governing body. Nobody knows if this is really it for Messi who, at 29, still has plenty of time to win a World Cup or even a Copa America for his country.

This is by far one of the most shocking retirement announcements ever considering who the player is, and at what age he has retired. Philipp Lahm retired from Germany at age 30, but that was after they won the World Cup and he had nothing left to prove.

While Messi retires from Argentina without a trophy to his name, he still goes down as their leading scorer, after he broke the record in the Copa America with a dazzling free kick. Just another example of his brilliance, and certainly someone we’re not ready to see leave the national team yet.

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