Urgent.News

What's breaking now, across thousands of outlets.

Culture

How Messi's decade of dominance almost never happened

Lionel Messi's decade of dominance with Argentina that almost never happened will go down as one of football's greatest ever stories.

How Messi's decade of dominance almost never happened

Lionel Messi retired from international football in 2016, just two days after turning 29, amid frustration over Argentina's losses in World Cup and Copa America finals. He had scored 71 goals in 113 appearances for the national team. Despite initial criticism from legendary player Diego Maradona, Messi returned to the national team after a 10-year period, winning four major trophies and scoring 70 more goals for Argentina.

The six-week period after his June 2016 retirement was considered the most significant in Argentine and world football history.

Written by urgent.news from BBC Sport's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

This story

This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.

Read the original at bbc.co.uk →

More in Culture

More from Monday 31 August →