Argentina need Lionel Messi from financial standpoint, says AFA president

Tapia admitted that there may have been an unrealistic amount of pressure on Messi’s shoulders. (Source: File)

Argentina Football Association president Claudio Tapia said that Lionel Messi’s availability for the senior team remains important because of the financial benefit the organisation gains from his appearances. “Emotionally, this blow must have been very hard on him, but Argentina needs him,” Tapia told Radio Mitre. “From a financial standpoint, Messi is very important to the AFA.”

Messi is yet to comment on his future with Argentina since the side’s Round of 16 exit from the 2018 World Cup. Messi managed to score just one goal and provided two assists in the tournament and missed a penalty in their first group stage match against Iceland. He had previously announced his international retirement after Argentina were beaten by Chile in the final of the 2015 Copa America Centenario but went on to reverse that decision.

“I think Messi will continue. He loves the Argentina national team a lot. We have a lot of confidence in him,” said Tapia. “We have a good relationship. He is on holiday and enjoying his family. We did not speak at all about the World Cup. We have to leave him alone, let him [collect his thoughts], begin the season in Spain and see what happens next year.”

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Tapia admitted that there may have been an unrealistic amount of pressure on Messi’s shoulders.

“We saw him like many others did, with this degree of responsibility that we also generated a little bit,” Tapia said of Messi, who scored one goal and set up two more at the World Cup. “We thought he was a superhero but he is a human being. He is the best player in the world but he is a human being. We loaded him with responsibilities that ended up backfiring.”