If Messi had equal amount of criticism and mockery from fans like Ronaldo then he would probably retired from football all together .. Very weak move from supposedly the greatest player of all time

bbc reports Messi is retiring

Bringing Lahm & Schweinsteiger is really bad comparison, when Germany fails, they never blame individuals. But when you see Argentina fail you see everywhere Mess this, Messi that.
And bs like:

Don't come home if you lose Copa final - Diego Maradona

His country isn't standing behind him, so what do you expect? How is that looser talk? He can do anything and if they fail it's on his shoulders.

@quik

Why is Messi so much of the focus anyway? Argentina's team itself is fantastic, Aguero, Higuian, Messi, Di Maria, Lavezzi, Tevez...and that's only their forward options. Messi always does ok for his country, but some of these names are ridiculously underwhelming yet reap little to none of the blame.

I'm not saying Lahm and Schweinsteiger have greater fighting spirit than Messi. Just giving an example that you always should keep going. Like Kahn once said "Weiter, immer weiter!" [meaning on and on]. I can understand he's fed up with his country, media though.

@raimondo: losing a CL final at home? As a Bavarian, in your own city? Schweinsteiger missing the deciding penalty? I think this one can be compared for sure.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

Are you guys seriously trying to say that this loss was not Messi's fault? Did you guys see the penalty?

Does Messi not wear the Captain's armband? Does he not play where he wants to, how he wants? I wouldn't even be surprised if he chose the players that will be fielded around him.

I'll remind you all what Ibrahimovic said about him. "The little dictator".

The fact is that this is HIS team. He is ALWAYS praised when Argentina or Barcelona win, even during the games when he does nothing. It's a two way street.

The difference between Argentina and Barcelona though is that one team had 2 greats, while the other didn't. Xavi and Iniesta.

Those are the players who should've won all those Ballond'Ors.

The only thing Messi is the GOAT at .. is the choking in the final.

^messi played good all the game then got nervous in the penalty shootout. honestly would not let messi take penalty in the final or at least not first penalty for the team.

When Messi missed the penalty it was 0:0, why are you not talking about Biglia's missed one?

So he does wear armband, was totally carrying Argentina through the whole final, played amazingly whole match(with Mascherano as well)

Higuain miss? no one is talking about. Aguero miss? no one is talking about. Di Maria? I noticed him twice in the match at the beginning and when he was subbed off.

And the one the biggest egocentric Zlatan is talking about dictator, seriously? Don't make me laugh.

I think it's both his fault and not his fault.

He's a man who is more sensitive to emotions. He may not show it as much as Ronaldo, but he feels the force of his emotions. And all that criticism from his own countrymen hurt him. It probably hurt him more than the final losses. Regardless, it has obviously become too emotionally overwhelming for him and he can't take it anymore. I don't think he did the right thing in retiring now, but it's not a choice I can criticize because I'm not Messi.

At the same time, I have to agree that, although it is not his fault entirely, he is still at fault for losing those finals. He doesn't have charisma. He doesn't have leadership. He doesn't have willpower. How would he ever be a champion if he isn't surrounded by greats then? Clearly he cannot win without them. That is what ultimately separates the legacies of Messi and Maradona. One was a champion, and the other was a man who just won trophies.

@Dynastian

That's a pretty fair assessment imo.

LOL Who is this guy ? @tiki is that you ? :D

Sanchez doesn't care about Messi retirement

LOL

amerr its quite obvious you dislike messi mate lol i think only neutrals like quickzyy (neither messi fanboys nor haters) can give a fair opinion. getting back to this thread : messi should be stronger than this. lost 4 finals? it wasn't only him. but even if he wants to retire why is everyone hating on him? its his decision and he still would be one of the best players ever. and @ amerr how is it messi's fault? what about higuain, the other guy who missed the penalty etc?

The whole team is to blame for the lost. They had a few good clear cut opportunities and did not put it to use.Penalty shoot out can go either way .Not everyone is the same, so stop comparing him to others. Maradona did not win the world cup by himself it was a team effort .Blame the team not the individual. that s just my opinion..hope i did not offend anybody

Messi the little dictator ? Thats more Ronaldo. And I just want to see the video of Zlatan saying it.
Lets face it, the only player atm in the world who has his own tactic, every team playing agaisnt him defend zonal And individual on him, they even anticipate the Space gap in case Messi get pass the first defender.
At Barca other players use the Space created by anti Messi tactics, here people just ignore How unlucky were the two last losts, played on details. Forgetting that each final Argentinian players suck, rojo is a disgrace to football, he has no level And being part of à big club is not enough to get a call if you actually suck.
Messi didnt influenced the game he was fouled the next second he touches the ball, he has many haters And deluded ones able to ignore his potential, his consistence IS unreal no Matter what a loss can leave in highlights specialists mind.
Cruyff has the same struggle, many Legends had the same case, mental ? Look on How much games he influences alone, How much finals, his new rôle in the midlefield.

And still got compared to a tap in player, when I Hear some description I think you are talking about Ronaldo.

Maradona may be the best ever, but some here are simply hating, the Guy has 11 years career with + 25 trophies with his main contribution, his vision And football science needs Time to be understood And may need specific player arround him, but he remains the best of his era.

Who was better ? Who ? If you have no answer then you were just hating atm....

I really feel for him, lad worked so hard for his team all those, he had to endure the critic from a legend nearly all of his international career and even now, people will say he either wasn't good enough and that he his a coward. I think thats just too hard, I mean, I couldn't have taken half of the pression people were putting on him. I'm sure that if you put yourself in his place, you'll understand how painful all of this must have been for him. In all reality, I'm just very sad for him, hope he change his mind.

Chile concentrated whole game marking a player at 4 or 5 at times, where were the others ? Incredible how each final Higuain flops so hard and Messi gets the hate. Messi needs Barca to play one two balls, to liberate a little space, a winger to open him one meter of space. He doesn't need feeders, he doesn't need a style of play. He needs players as smart as him who helps him to get rid of one or two defenders, he needs a player to give him a solution when he feels he would get fouled...
Never seen anyone analysing his performences whole tournment the final included, just some " he is down lets hate on him " kicking someone when he is down is so respectable attitude, same as when Ronaldo fails to score his precious '' pk ''.

Messi didn't flopped mentally, we can say we witnessed his limits physically because of failing to dribble five fierce defenders into Gk, he got like 0 clear chance or assist given by his teammates, he Spent whole game out of the pk box
And getting fouled, lost on PKs and then people making a final statement on his 12 years old career.

Like they say in Spain, we see a lot of knifes only when the torero is down. And without any single valid argument just pathetic.

@emo That's a Man reaction, he took the responsibility from his nation and he failed to do it, loosing In a final would be already an achievement for the so insulted " small mentality " players, not for him. Instead
Of keeping scoring useless goals on friemdlies for his nation he decided as big boy to assume his failure and let others try, in Japan they call it Hara Kiri, while some others like CR prefer to blame their teammates. Those who see it as a weakness are used to loss...
They may prefer serial losers like Rooney who will go on vacation and come back next year for another group stage exit.

Many will follow his exit instead of being happy for him not being there anymore, if you aren't a leader in a loss don't show your muscles In a victory... You take it all and that's a beautiful gesture, I remember someone hating on his Coach after a 0-4 loss, or reducing his teammates in a post game interview or even speaking about ref the rivals or other sore losers things... " if everyone plays like me we wouldn't loose " and the guy will even be defended.

For me, he just got unlucky last night. And I can understand that it really kills on the inside but I find kinda impossible the fact that he will retire for Argentinian squad. I think it will be a shock for this team which they might not recover. I think he said when he was frustrated, but with hindsight I really dont think this will be definitve. He's probably gonna get out for a year, but I think he's gonna be recalled during the World Cup in 2018.

@expertfootball11 I hope thats what happen. I also think this could be how this will unfold.

Title of the thread: Lionel Messi retires from international football

Content of the thread: Ronaldo is better than Messi, no, Messi is better than Ronaldo

Soooo... Let me get this straight. Are some people justifying what Messi and other players retiring from the nat. team so suddenly?

Look, Ive never loved Messi or anything but he is one of the all time greatest. With that being said, this is something that no one should be ok with. Ive always been very sensible with national team callups and players attitude towards playing for that team. So for me there is nothing justifiable for what these players decided to to. Shame on them, who gave up after a few regular games, who let down their entire country and then instead of fighting to give them hope and eventually joy they decide to quit?! No way this is a respectable attitude. Maybe Mascherano is an exception but the rest are in their prime or very close to it and announcing that they wont come back right after a defeat that is already devastating is something I dont approve at all.

Some other things to add up. Messi has played very well with Argentina in the past few tournaments. A penalty miss is no big deal tbh. Biglia missed as well and so did others in the previous Copa America and lets not forget how many chances Higuain missed in those 3 finals. Argentina is not a bad team, their loses have been circumstantial. 2 of them by penalties and 1 in overtime so no need to get upset about these loses, there can only be one winner and that doesn't mean that the rest of the teams are terrible. Didn't Ronaldo missed the penalty in the 2008 final? But no one ever talks about that because things ended up well for his team.

It's not Messi's fault.
There has been lots of overreaction.
Ill get rid of anyone saying Ronaldo is better than Messi...

... or the other way around. ;)