Mumbai: Former Argentina captain and legendary Diego Maradona, who won the World Cup for the country almost all by himself in 1986, accused Lionel Messi’s retirement to be staged. In an interview with a radio station, La Red, he said, “I don’t know whether this was staged to make us understand that he’d lost three finals, but we never lost by big margins.”
Messi, who announced his sudden retirement from international football after loosing in the finals of Copa America against Chile after missing his shot in the shoot out, had said that time, “This is the end for me with the national team, it’s not for me.”
Messi continued, “I think it’s best for everyone, for me and for many people who want it. The choice for me is over, it is a decision.”
Maradona on the other feels that Messi spoke impulsively, and did hurt a lot sentiments of people in Argentina at the time. Maradona also believed that no one had blamed Messi for the loss.
“He got annoyed for nothing. He wasn’t to blame for the defeat, others were. So why did he announce his retirement? He spoke too quickly, made everyone hold their breath.” Said the former world cup winner.
And with a confirmation from Messi of returning to the national team earlier this month, things get speculative. “A lot of things were going through my head the day of the final, and I really thought about stopping, but I love my country,” Messi was quoted during his announcement of his return.
The happiness of Messi’s fans don’t seem to stop and also the rejoice of Argentina’s national team with the return of their former captain.