Leo Messi's International Retirement May Be Short Lived

Lionel Messi's international retirement may not be happening after all, if reports in Argentina are to be believed.

The five time Ballon d'Or winner announced that he would no longer play for Argentina after 'La Albiceleste' lost their third final in three years, against Chile in the Copa America final, last Sunday.

However, following pleas from Diego Maradona and mass calls for a reversal of the decision from pretty much everyone in Argentina, it would appear that Messi has indeed changed his mind, La Nacion are reporting:

"The pundits and fans - not necessarily the same thing - can rest easy: Messi will return to the selection."

"The only open question is when, because after speaking with several strong sources with close proximity to the "10", La Nacion is able to say that there is no goodbye. It's just a pause."

The reports also claim that, should Argentina qualify for the 2018 World Cup, in Russia, Messi will definitely be part of the squad.

(H/T 101 Great Goals)

Topics: Football, Lionel Messi, Argentina

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

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