It couldn't have ended more
agonizingly on Sunday night for Lionel Messi – who, when it was all over, after
his wayward penalty shot sailed over the crossbar, declared his occupation with
the Argentine national team is over.
An emotional Messi said that he’s
finished with international soccer after a second straight heartbreaking
penalty shootout loss to Chile in the Copa America final.
“In the locker room I thought that
the national team is not for me. It’s what I feel right now. It’s a great
sadness that it happened again, the fact that I missed a PK that was vital,”
the luckless striker said through a translator.
Argentina had it in the bag, or at
least should’ve, in front of a record crowd at MetLife Stadium for the Copa
America final. They were up a man in the first half and, much later, held the
upper hand in the penalty shootout with Messi stepping to the spot.
Instead, the striker sent his opportunity well over the crossbar and Argentina dropped a heartbreaker to Chile on penalty kicks, 4-2, after a scoreless tie through further time.
Messi’s errant shot represented the first missed penalty for Argentina. Later, Lucas Biglia’s try was saved by Chile keeper Claudio Bravo, just before Francisco Silva clinched La Roja’s second straight Copa America title by burying his strike.