FC Barcelona superstar and Argentina captain Lionel Messi says that he will continue to play for the National side despite being made into a scapegoat again, for the loss against Chile in the Copa America Final.
Lionel Messia s performances, while playing for Argentina have been under the scanner again, following the teama s Copa America Final defeat to Chile earlier in the summer.
In the final, Messi was a shadow of the player who took FC Barcelona . to a treble last season with some magical displays of sportsmanship, especially in the Champions League.
After his performance in the Copa America Final, Messi came under heavy criticism. Fans called for him to be dropped from the national side and the legendary Diego Maradona, among others, quiestioned whether Messi was Swedish or Argentine. His parents were also abused during the final which they happened to be attending.
Messi to continue to play despite criticism
Despite the national side consisting of a bunch of star names including Aguero, Di Maria, Higuain and Tevez, it is always Messi who is picked out for criticism in case Argentina looses. This happens in spite of his being the best player for the faltering nation that has not won a major international trophy since 1992.
Stating that he would continue to play for the national side as long as the manager wants him to, Messi was quoted as saying to ESPN FC radio on Thursday: “I never said that I wasn’t going to play any longer with the national team. More than how they killed me [media], they weren’t going to kill me any more.
“I am used to them saying these types of things. Now we have friendlies and as long as the coach calls me up I am going to continue to be present.”
Argentina are slated to play Bolivia and Mexico in friendlies in the USA in the first week of September and Messi has been called up to the squad alongside Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero.
Argentina’s 24-man squad for the games does not include Di Maria, Zabaleta, Pastore and Biglia, who are all out due to injury. Manager Martino has called up Matias Kranevitter, Emmanuel Mas, Angel Correa and Nicolas Gaitan.