Messi: A National Flop?

Only a cynic of the highest order, will deny the ingenuities and exquisite wizardy that Lionel Messi possesses. However, his previous and recent outings with Argentina has made many to question the potency he embodies. Indeed, Messi has nothing to prove at the club stage. His laurels with Barcelona are very enviable and intimidating. He has won every prize that club football has to offer. Having said that, Messi has continued to lose his mindas touch whenever he plays for Argentina. He toils to reinvent his magic. Several reasons have been adduced for this. The apologists maintain that Argentina lacks the ideal manager that will bring out the best in him, and that the pressure whenever he plays for the national side is so much that it can make any player crack. For the skeptics, Messi's expliots with Barcelona is a sheer product of the craftiness of Ronaldiho(when he was at Barca), Xavi and Iniesta. They insists that Messi has been lucky to have always played alongside exceptional midfielders over the years. This arguement might be extreme, but it cannot simply be dismissed as untenable. However, Messi still has age on his side, but the consensus remains that he has to prove himself with the Argentina national team before he can truly consider himself as one of the greatest that the beautiful game has ever produced.