Lionel Messi was gone. Only his boots remained, and even those were in rough shape. Manu Ginobili looked great. Juan Manuel Fangio was unscathed. But Messi was destroyed.
It had been like that for two years when I visited the Walk of Fame in Buenos Aires where bronze sculptures of some of the country's greatest athletes stood. Why they left it that way is impossible to say.
Buenos Aires, 2019This was all that remained of a statue to Lionel Messi erected two years earlier. Safe to say public sentiment shifted.
— Jon Arnold (@jonarnoldfc.bsky.social) 2026-08-31T21:17:44.982Z
The statue had gone up not long after Messi's failure to take Argentina one step beyond. He had engineered trips to the 2014 World Cup final, the 2015 Copa América final and the 2016 Copa América Centenario final. At some point, vandals decided
they'd take down the tribute to that "pecho frio" the guy who didn't have the heart to get Argentina to the championship.
Now, it's clear that is not the case. Even before the criticism boiled over, when he first announced his retirement from international play in 2016 before reversing the decision he made in frustration, Messi had done plenty for Argentina.
Today? He retires from the international game secure in the fact he is a national hero.
"I am going with the peace and pride of having, along with my teammates, given you moments you dreamed about," Messi wrote in his Instagram post on Monday, Aug. 31 announcing his retirement from international soccer. "It was nuts to experience them with you."
The statues of Messi are rarely vandalized now. On occasion, some kids will knock one down, but they have many more options. After the 2022 World Cup win, Messi was everywhere, his image painted on walls, his name put on the country's most important soccer facility.
The debates about whether he or Diego Armando Maradona leave a bigger legacy have cooled. Messi didn't win the 2026 World Cup, but even as he approaches 40 he was the most important player on a national team that finished as runners-up.
Maradona, too, is an Argentine icon, provoking feelings of literal religious devotion despite often enjoying the temptations of mortal flesh.
Messi is not a man without sins, but he is much more of an example of the modern era. Sure, his eternal foil Cristiano Ronaldo was more of a picture of discipline, the sheer level of effort, of abstention, of commitment it took to make it to the top level. But Messi, too, overcame far too many obstacles to put anything at risk with a trip to the nightclub before a match.
Maradona's legacy will always be linked to what he did in Naples. Messi, too, will forever be linked with Barcelona.
It was there he became the greatest player of all time, first coming through the youth ranks as a kid signed, in part, because the club would pay for his growth hormone treatments that an Argentine club wouldn't cover.
It was in Catalonia that Messi won 10 league titles and four editions of the UEFA Champions League, which propelled him to seven of the eight Ballon d'Or wins as the best player in the world. Messi continues to write the epilogue to his story in club soccer, with his four-goal match for Inter Miami over the weekend putting him atop MLS' top scorer chart. He won MLS Cup last year, and continues to chase a Concacaf Champions Cup trophy and the Club World Cup place that would come with it.
There is no Messi without Barcelona, but while the club made him great it is Argentina that made him eternal.
Statues will continue to go up and not come down. Fans will continue to sing his name "By the hand of Lionel Messi" will ring out - new songs with Maradona's name alongside Messi's will be written.
He is a figure that will never be forgotten, one who spans divides in Argentine culture. People of all political parties love Messi. Rich people and poor people love Messi.
That has been true since before 2022. The Copa América in 2021 was the culmination of a process of Argentina falling back in love with Messi, recognizing the talent of its greatest player, putting the onus on coaches or teammates who weren't able to support the star in the best way possible rather than on the star himself.
Lionel Scaloni improbably got the mix exactly right and figured out how to unlock Messi. That led to two continental titles, the third star over the Argentina logo and Messi receiving the universal adulation his play deserved.
When Messi hangs up the boots for good, there will be much discussion about what he achieved in Barcelona, in Paris and even in Miami. What he did in Buenos Aires and Rosario, though, will last even longer than anything he did in a club shirt.
The real Lionel Messi is gone from the Argentina national team, but what he did in two decades wearing the shirt guarantees he will live on forever in Argentina.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FC Barcelona made Messi great, Argentina made him eternal | Opinion
