3 reasons why Lionel Messi could help end Argentina's 28-year wait for Copa America glory
The 2019 edition of the Copa America is well underway, as 12 nations battle it out for top honors in Brazil. The tournament has pitted together South America's finest, with invitations sent out to Qatar and Japan.
The one team that have their sights on the trophy the most is Argentina.
La Albiceleste has gone a massive 28 years without triumphing on their continent, and in a football crazy nation like Argentina, this is simply not good enough.
Their tournament, however, got off to the worst start possible, as Lionel Scaloni's men fell to a 2-0 defeat by Colombia, to put them rock bottom of Group B after the first round of matches.
While it might seem highly unlikely on the evidence of their showing against Colombia, Argentina has an ace up their sleeves in the form of Lionel Messi and their talisman is more than capable of turning the tide on its head to lead his nation to Copa America glory.
In this piece, we shall be taking a look at three reasons why Lionel Messi could lead Argentina all the way in the 2019 Copa America.
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#3 The expectation levels with Argentina are low
Ever since Argentina's last title triumph in 1991, the country has gone into every major tournament with fans genuinely believing in their team's chances to go all the way and lift the trophy.
This assured belief was not founded on any form of blind faith or misplaced patriotism but in the fact that the Argentine squads of the last two decades have been among the best in history.
Few teams competing with the South American giants in major tournaments could boast of a squad possessing as much quality within its ranks. A roll call of players to don the Sky Blue and White of Argentina consists of some of the greatest ever to play the game including Walter Samuel, Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo, Juan Roman Riquelme, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Ariel Ortega, Juan Sebastian Veron, Lionel Messi, Javier Zanetti, but to name a few.
These players played for the biggest clubs in Europe and were expected to pull their weight on the international scene with their nation, but this has failed to happen. Argentina endured multiple heartbreaks at major tournaments with the three consecutive final defeats suffered between 2014 and 2016 being the lowest point.
Heading into the 2019 Copa America, the reverse happens to be the case, as the current Argentine squad is full of inexperienced and unheralded players who are nowhere near being on the levels of their illustrious forebears with Lionel Scaloni seemingly molding a team for the future.
Other than Messi, Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala, Angel Di Maria and a handful of others, the rest of the squad is virtually unheard of and this has led to a general feeling of low expectation from the Argentine team both back home and across the rest of the world.
This could well play out to their advantage, as while everyone is focusing on the danger posed by Brazil, Uruguay, and Colombia (by virtue of their wonderful victory over Argentina), Lionel Messi and co could be going about their business slowly but steadily.
In the past, Argentina suffered heavily from the weight of expectations, but with virtually nobody expecting anything from them this time around and with the shackles of expectation taken off his shoulders, Lionel Messi could play a decisive role in leading his nation to glory.