Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni believes Lionel Messi has nothing to prove ahead of tonight’s Copa América final.
Scaloni’s men are preparing to face hosts Brazil in the Copa América final at Maracana this evening (1am UK time/2am Spanish) and there is already a huge deal of pressure on Messi.
For all he has won and achieved, Messi has never won a senior title with Argentina, and some believe that could cost him in his bid to become the best, with Cristiano Ronaldo winning Euro 2016 with Portugal.
But that talk is little more than nonsense, according to Argentina boss Scaloni, who believes Messi has already done more than enough to prove himself, and defeat in tonight’s final would not harm his position as the ‘best in history’.
“Win or don’t win, he will continue being the best footballer in history, he doesn’t need to win a title to demonstrate it,” he said, as cited by Marca.
“Obviously, we want to win because we haven’t made all this effort not to break the bubble.
“In the background, whether Leo wins or doesn’t, he has already demonstrated that he is the best in history, and even the opponents recognise it.”
Messi did win gold at the 2008 Olympics with Argentina, but that competition is very much classed as an under-23s tournament, adding to his under-20 World Cup win, meaning he is still without a senior medal.
But as Scaloni says, the now veteran forward has already done more than enough at club level to prove himself, regardless of what critics say of his international efforts.
