In Fifa World Cup Finals in 2014, Lionel Messi was very close to win his first major International trophy but Germany scored in the extra time to deny Messi a shot at the Fifa World Cup.
In 2015, Messi was back again in the Finals, this time in Copa America but got beaten by Chile in the penalty shootouts.
The following year in 2016, Messi was again at the same juncture against the same opponents at the same tournament finals. Lionel Messi failed to score in the tie-breakers as Argentina went on to lose 3 finals in 3 consecutive years.
He announced his international retirement post that match but soon came out of it. He worked hard, scored goals even won a Ballon d'Or but his international trophy drought still remained.
Fast forward to today, Argentina finally wins the Copa America Finals by beating Arch-rivals Brazil. Lionel Messi finally gets his hands on a major international trophy. Messi not only led from the front but even ended up as the highest goal scorer of the tournament.
With this Copa America triumph, Lionel Messi further enriched his trophy cabinet that already includes 4 Champions Trophy, 10 Laliga, 7 Copa Del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cup and 3 Fifa Club World Cup with Barcelona. The 6 time Ballon d'or winner has also won a Under 20 Fifa World Cup with Argentina and has also an Olympic Gold with Albiceleste. The only major trophy that is missing from his cabinet is the Fifa World Cup.
With the next edition of Fifa World Cup scheduled in Qatar in 2022, we can hope that Lionel Messi ends up winning the gold which is supposed to be his last World Cup Appearance.
Till then we congratulate the GOAT for the Copa America triumph and his dedicated service to the world of Football.