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TSN Soccer Analyst

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When Lionel Messi hit his penalty into the New Jersey air late on Sunday night the sun was already emerging over his home in Barcelona.

Back in Europe, it has been a week where headlines have been dominated by Brexit and the European Championships. Teams and voters alike made big decisions that have defined their future. As Sunday turned into Monday at the home of the New York Giants, one of the giants of his sport told the world his decision. Messi was voting to leave the international stage.

"It's a hard moment for me and the team, and it's difficult to say, but it’s over with the Argentina team," said Messi. "I've done all I can, I've been in four finals and it hurts not to be a champion."

Messi has had his fair share of disappointment in an Argentina shirt, but it is hard to think of an image more defining of his time than the one of him sitting on the bench, alone with his thoughts as Chile celebrated another penalty shootout victory.

It was only last summer when Messi, then 28, watched his team lose a Copa America final in the same manner. His international career path appeared to look clear. World Cup qualifiers, a shot at another World Cup in Russia in 2018, and a Copa title challenge in 2019. At that point he would be 32, so any further appearances would be a bonus. Those demanding he win a major international tournament to be compared to Diego Maradona had two more stages left to analyze. 

Instead, international football and its long battle for context took over. For no reason other than money, another Copa America was arranged for 2016. Messi and others would now be given another challenge three years in a row after a long, demanding European season.

Some players simply said no. Messi knew he couldn't. His generation mates like forward partners Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain and the brilliant Javier Mascherano had been teased with another chance to bring a major trophy back to Argentina for the first time since 1993. Messi, so often a winner with Barcelona, couldn't turn down a great chance of winning for his nation.

He arrived in the United States injured and distracted. A tax case in Barcelona forced him to fly back for a day before the first game. He took his time reaching the magnificent level we are used to watching in Spain, but when he scored a hat trick against Panama as a substitute it looked like he was at the level Argentina needed him to be.

A marvellous free kick against the U.S. gave him another record, as the country's all-time leading scorer and another final beckoned. Yet, off the field all was not well. While Cristiano Ronaldo slammed opponents and threw microphones in lakes at the Euros, unusually Messi created controversy of his own calling the Argentina FA 'a disaster' in an Instagram post. 

He later admitted his honesty was a mistake, but the rest of us had been given an unusual glimpse into his frustrated, tired mind. The summer of 2016 was supposed to be a rare holiday for the world's greatest talent.  Instead, he was being dragged all around the planet again because of international football's fight to be relevant over a thriving club scene.

Gone for good are the days where the best football is played at the international level and the global brands for the biggest clubs in the sport have never been bigger. Far too many international games between tournaments lack meaning which is why UEFA are attempting to start a different competition to keep people's attention during World Cup and Euro cycles.

Fewer sports fans are used to breaks, so with money to be made and a demanding public, associations come together to deliver what the public wants. Few feel sorry for the well-compensated players, so their rights and futures are discarded, pushed down the order of priorities by associations lacking the professionalism of clubs.

In South America they have the most competitive and thriving World Cup qualifying format. Six games in, their latest campaign should have been their priority in this cycle.

Instead, Copa America Centenario presented Messi and the world with an opportunity. Thousands of supporters travelled across the United States paying inflated ticket prices to see the sport's stars push their bodies to the extreme in search of another title. Many failed along the way, but Messi was still standing on the final night of the competition.

Standing until he could do no more. As one of the greatest of all-time in a team sport he has spent his life playing alongside inferior opponents and rarely showing any negative body language as they all struggled to reach his level. Yet, when Lucas Biglia missed Argentina's fourth penalty and the inevitable loss dawned on Messi he couldn't hide his emotions any longer. 

On July 13, 2014 in Rio, Messi had just lost a World Cup final but couldn't have done any more. He held his head high when awarded the tournament's best player and the rest of us pondered what could have been if key allies Di Maria and Aguero hadn't lost the battle with their bodies after another gruelling season.

In the two seasons that followed he would blossom with new partners, Neymar and Luis Suarez, winning back-to-back league titles and another European Cup. Sandwiched in between he narrowly missed out on the Copa America in Chile. He ended the domestic season, a winner again in May, securing the league and cup double, with a win over Sevilla, in his 122nd game since the World Cup.

At that point Messi should have been allowed to put his feet up before starting a new season with Barcelona and Argentina. Copa America 2016 prevented that from happening. If he spends the summer of 2018 on holiday instead of at the World Cup the tournament and the entire format of international football should have a very long hard look at itself.