A Decade After Bauza’s Intervention, Messi’s Legacy With Argentina Is Complete

Across the course of his illustrious career, Lionel Messi scored more goals for Argentina in major tournaments – 21 at the World Cup and 14 at the Copa América – than the late, great Diego Maradona did across his own legendary career in the 1980s and 1990s. Let that sink in.

Remember, too, that a decade ago Messi had announced his retirement after losing on penalties to Chile in the Copa América Centenario final in the United States. Weeks earlier, Maradona had damningly questioned his leadership credentials, saying that he had no personality. The fan base itself was divided, with many comparing what Maradona had done with the national team in 1986 with what Messi had been unable to do in three previous World Cups and three Copa América final defeats.

The criticism had gone on for some time and surely prompted his decision to step away. Between June 2016 and August, something changed. Edgardo Bauza, perhaps one of the least remembered coaches in Argentina’s football history if you go by results alone, was in charge for just eight games, winning only three of them. But his place in the country’s annals is secure because he was the one who eventually convinced Messi to wear the Albiceleste shirt again.

What followed was unprecedented.

Fifteen of those 21 World Cup goals came after he turned 35, with seven coming as Argentina won the title in 2022 and eight driving a bang-average team all the way to the final this year. There were also Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024, the first of those Argentina’s first major honour in nearly three decades.

You can get lost in the numbers, really – 207 caps, 125 goals, a multitude of records. But to fixate on them would be to miss the magic.

Prime-time Messi was mesmeric. Kolkata was lucky enough to see his first match as Argentina’s captain in 2011, in a friendly against Venezuela. At his peak, he glided across the turf, commanded the ball to do his bidding and made his teammates better. For a long time, he was Barcelona’s Messi – the heartbeat of one of the finest club sides football has ever seen. But it was after Bauza’s intervention that he truly became Argentina’s.

He scored as many as 70 goals in the 94 internationals that he played afterwards. The notion that he lacked the charisma to lead was also shattered over the past decade. Time after time, it was Messi who dragged the team by the scruff of the neck towards the finishing line.

Having lost to Saudi Arabia in the tournament opener in 2022, it needed Messi’s intervention against Mexico that put the campaign back on track. He was at the heart of almost everything they did in the dramatic final against France, and his imprint was all over the tournament in the United States, with only Spain in the final able to shut him down.

You will never forget the virtuoso performance against England in the semi-final, when his ability to find space and set up his teammates made all the difference in the final half-hour.

Messi played that tournament knowing that his father, who had been his friend, philosopher, guide, agent and so much more, was fighting a losing battle against illness. He kept going. And it is really no surprise that this decision has come weeks after his father’s passing.

He had indicated to his inner circle that he intended to step away soon after the final on 19 July, but his father’s demise crystallised that thought and made him certain that there would be no continuing to the Copa América 2028, or even beyond to 2030.

The arguments will rage on for as long as football is played: who was the greatest? Was it Pelé? Was it Maradona after him? Or was it Messi?

But one thing is for sure. A decade after Bauza’s unforgettable intervention, Messi will be front and centre of every such conversation.

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