EAST RUTHERFORD: Lionel Messi has indicated he will
retire from global football after Chile upset favourites Argentina with a
penalty shootout victory in the Copa America final at MetLife Stadium on
Sunday.
Having lost in the 2014 World Cup final and 2015 Copa America decider - also on penalties to Chile - La Albiceleste have now lost three major finals in three years.
Afterwards, Messi - a four-time winner of FIFA's Ballon d'Or and widely considered one of the top three best players of all time - said the time had come for him to stand down from international duty.
"It's difficult in this moment to do any sort of analysis," Messi said in an interview in the mixed zone. In the locker room, I thought the national team is not for me. It's what I feel right now."
Chile earned themselves bragging rights as South America's central team.
"We are an historic group and we proved that today," Chilean striker Eduardo Vargas told TV cameras after the game.
The two sides were deadlocked 0-0 after 90 minutes and also after another half an hour of extra time in a match where together teams were reduced to 10 men in the first half.