Barcelona: Football fans the world over got a huge reason to cheer about after Argentina icon Lionel Messi announced that he has decided to come out of international retirement.
“I see that there are a lot of problems in Argentina football and I don’t want to create more. I don’t want to cause harm, on the contrary, my goal was to help in any way I could,” Messi said in a statement on Friday.
A disappointed Messi had announced his international retirement after Chile defeated Argentina in the final of the Copa America Centenario in June. It was the third consecutive loss for Argentina in the final of a major tournament following defeats at the 2015 Copa America and the 2014 World Cup.
Messi’s only major international honour is Olympic gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing. The forward, who was been awarded the Ballon d’Or for the world’s best player five times, was also on the losing side against Brazil in the 2007 Copa America final.
The announcement led to an outcry in Argentina with fans from all over the world expressing their disappointment. Even the legendary Diego Maradona urged the Barcelona superstar to reconsider his decision.
