Diego Maradona has called on Lionel Messi to not follow through on his decision to quit international football after the forward vowed to never represent Argentina again.
Messi stunned the world by announcing he intends to retire from the national team following Argentina’s gut-wrenching defeat to Chile in the Copa America final on Sunday. The 29-year-old missed his spot-kick in the shoot-out as his side fell 4-2 on penalties.
The result was the third consecutive summer that Messi had suffered a loss in a major tournament final with his country, after another penalty loss to Chile last year and a World Cup final defeat to Germany in 2014.
But Maradona, who coached Messi and the Argentinian national side between 2008 and 2010, says the Barcelona forward must not actually stick to his decision to retire from his country.
The legendary 55-year-old believes Messi will stand a good chance of leading Argentina to success at the World Cup in 2018.
Speaking to La Nacion, Maradona said: “Messi has to stay in the national team. He will go to Russia in form to be world champion.
“He has to rely more on boys who can help take the team forward and less on those who say they have to go.
“Those who are saying he should quit are doing it so that we won’t see what a disaster Argentine football has become.”
Messi set a new record for goals scored for Argentina this summer when he broke Gabriel Batistuta’s 54 goal record, scoring his 55th in the victory over the USA.
Messi may not be the only player to quit Argentina duty after the loss to Chile, with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Javier Mascherano also thought to be considering their future.
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