MOSCOW: Lionel Messi sloped off down the tunnel in Nizhny Novgorod with his head bowed, knowing Argentina face the humiliation of a group-stage exit at the World Cup in Russia.
The Barcelona star was silenced by a far superior Croatia side in a brutal 3-0 defeat that left the South Americans needing an unlikely series of results to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive.
The World Cup is likely to lose the man who, along with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, has dominated and defined football for a decade.
Messi is just days short of his 31st birthday. We may be witnessing him on football’s biggest stage for the final time, a talent curiously unfulfilled at international level despite his astonishing feats for his club.
Argentina lost the 2014 World Cup final 1-0 to Germany after extra time, before suffering successive defeats by Chile on penalties in Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016.
Messi hinted before the start of this World Cup that he could quit international football after the tournament, having already retired in 2016 before swiftly reversing his decision.
After missing a penalty in the opening 1-1 draw with Iceland in Argentina’s first game in Russia, there was little doubt Messi was looking to atone against Croatia. – Agencies
