- Argentina鈥檚 senior squad has not won a title in 26 years, with the last one coming when Lionel Messi was five years old
- The Barcelona playmaker Messi has complained about the refereeing
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil: Another elimination for Argentina, another missed opportunity for Lionel Messi to succeed with the national team.
Messi鈥檚 streak without a title with Argentina has been extended after a 2-0 loss to Brazil in the semifinals of the Copa Am茅rica on Tuesday.
Argentina鈥檚 senior squad hasn鈥檛 won a title in 26 years, with the last one coming when Messi was five years old.
The Barcelona playmaker stood by himself and looked in despair after the final whistle at the Mineir茫o Stadium.
鈥淲e played a great match,鈥� Messi said. 鈥淲e put in a great effort, but they were better than us.鈥�
The 32-year-old Messi had his best match of the tournament, leading the team and creating most of the danger for Argentina in attack. He made a few good runs and put his teammates in good position to score, but again it wasn鈥檛 enough.
It was from a Messi cross that Sergio Ag眉ero hit the crossbar in the first half, and in the second the Barcelona playmaker had two chances from direct free kicks, one saved by Brazil goalkeeper Allison and another that deflected off the Brazilian wall. He also struck the post with a shot from inside the area after halftime.
Messi complained about the refereeing, saying video review should have been used to check on a couple of non-calls that could have favored the Argentines with penalty kicks.
鈥淓very minimum contact was a foul for them,鈥� he said. 鈥淗opefully CONMEBOL (the South American soccer confederation) will do something about these refereeing issues. We gave everything we had, but we had things going against us. But I don鈥檛 think they will do anything, Brazil manages everything.鈥�
Messi鈥檚 only title with Argentina was with the under-23 squad in the 2008 Olympics.
His first major tournament with the senior squad was in the 2006 World Cup, when Argentina fell to host Germany in the quarterfinals. He lost to Brazil in the final of the 2007 Copa Am茅rica, and three years later Argentina again fell to Germany in the World Cup quarterfinals.
Messi and Argentina again couldn鈥檛 get past the last eight in the 2011 Copa Am茅rica, losing to eventual champion Uruguay.
One of Messi鈥檚 best tournaments with the national team came in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when Argentina made it to the final but lost 1-0 to Germany.
He came close again in the last two editions of the Copa Am茅rica, losing both finals in penalty shootouts against Chile.
Messi was one of the three veterans who lost those two finals and the one in the World Cup in 2014, along with Ag眉ero and 脕ngel Di Mar铆a.
Messi said after the 2016 loss to Chile he would not return to the national team, but he sounded more optimistic this time, saying 鈥淎rgentina has material to keep growing.鈥�
Argentina will play the third-place game on Saturday in S茫o Paulo against either two-time defending champion Chile or Peru, who will play in the other semifinal on Wednesday in Porto Alegre.