Lionel Messi retires from international soccer after a decorated career

In June 2016, inside MetLife Stadium, Lionel Messi sat devastated after Argentina’s penalty shootout defeat to Chile. He had just ballooned his penalty into the New Jersey night sky, suffered a third consecutive major-final defeat with Argentina, and announced his shock departure from international football with words that sounded like surrender: "The national team is […] The post Lionel Messi Retirement: The 21-Year Argentina Journey From Heartbreak To Glory appeared first on Stadium Rant.

Lionel Messi announced his retirement from the national team on Monday after a 21-year career, leaving behind a legacy of 125 goals and the 2022 World Cup title. As captain and talisman, his departure raises big questions about the future of a team that reached the World Cup final just six weeks ago. “I gave it my all; I have nothing left to give,” Messi wrote in an Instagram post.

In the decade after his short-lived first retirement, the Argentina talisman upended previous narratives and solidified his place in history Perhaps somewhere, in some dusty journal that’s surely been lost in Rosario, Lionel Messi made clear his destiny: that if he were to one day represent Argentina, his national team career must end in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A decade and two months before the playmaker posted his hand-written retirement from international football, Messi made his first attempt to leave La Albiceleste. They had just lost the Copa América Centenario – a special edition of the South American championship held in the United States for the tournament’s 100th anniversary – in excruciating fashion, with Messi having missed his attempt in a shootout defeat to Chile at East Rutherford, the same venue where Argentina lost this year’s World Cup final. It was the third consecutive major final that saw Argentina receive silver medals as parting gifts, after the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa América. Continue reading...

In the decade after his short-lived first retirement, the Argentina talisman upended previous narratives and solidified his place in history

Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international soccer after 21 years representing Argentina. “It was a decision that hurt — and still hurts deeply — but I understand that the time has come,” the 39-year-old Messi says on his Instagram account Mo…