10 legends who have never won a major international trophy

Winning a World Cup trophy, a Euro Championship or a Copa America is the ultimate goal of every football player. Failure to do so will always be considered a blemish on the footballer's career; it wouldn't be wrong to say that a footballer would never feel completely content without winning a major international trophy. At the same time, winning an international trophy needs a combination of team work, luck and individual brilliance. Being a great player does not mean that you are guaranteed to win a major international tournament.Here is a list of great players who failed to win any international tournament. 

#10 Lionel Messi - Argentina

Messi has been on the losing side in three consecutive finals

Supporters and experts calls him alien, superhuman and what not, but Lionel Messi has never has won silverware with Argentina at the senior level. He may have won everything there is to win at the club level with Barcelona but, on the international stage, he has not been able to recreate the magic which fetched him five Ballon d’Or awards. 

He has won the Olympic Gold medal and FIFA U-20 World Cup for Argentina. At the senior level, he has come close four times – when Argentina reached the finals of 2007 Copa America, the 2014 World Cup, the 2015 Copa America and the 2016 Copa America. But Brazil thrashed them 3-0 in 2007 and Germany beat them 1-0 in 2014, while Chile defeated Argentina in both 2015 and 2016.

Messi was awarded the Golden Ball in 2014 but it was a controversial decision as he did not score after the group stages. He finished with four goals and one assist in the tournament.

In the 2006 World Cup, Jose Pekerman used a 17-year-old Messi more as an impact substitute. In the 2010 World Cup, Argentina were thrashed 4-0 in the quarter-final by Germany. He failed to score in that tournament, but he did well in patches, earning a man of the match award. 

He failed to score once again at the 2011 Copa America but managed to give three assists before Argentina were knocked out in the quarter-final by Uruguay. Messi performed much better in the last two Copa Americas and the 2014 World Cup, but his missed penalty in the 2016 final against Chile will rankle long and hard.