World Cup 2018: Lionel Messi a magician who has his disappearing act down cold

Mike DeCourcy

World Cup 2018: Lionel Messi a magician who has his disappearing act down cold image

He left the field less visibly anguished this time, but Lionel Messi's displeasure was still evident to anyone watching. It is getting worse for Argentina, not better, as the group stage of the 2018 World Cup advances toward its conclusion. It is getting worse for Messi, as well.

He was on the field for the full 90 minutes in Argentina's 3-0 loss Thursday to Croatia. We know this because he was still wearing the captain’s armband as he headed toward the stadium tunnel in Nizhny Novgorod. Did anyone notice him, though, except maybe when he was being shoved to the ground by a Croatian defender?

And so I ask you: Can the greatest player in the world be that quiet in a game that consequential?

While Cristiano Ronaldo is sprinting around the field, firing in goals for Portugal, Messi is being manhandled by opponents, missing a penalty and just generally missing. This is not the first event in which his national team performance has been noticeably wanting, either.

Now in his fourth World Cup, Messi has produced five goals for Argentina in those tournaments. Ronaldo has delivered four just in the first week of this one.

WORLD CUP: The miserable Messi stat that sums up Argentina's attack

There is no doubting Messi is an absolute magician of a player. Even in the 1-1 draw against Iceland in the World Cup opener, he conjured moments that left you bewildered if you were watching closely. They didn't lead to anything, though.

Having watched Iceland physically punish Messi at every opportunity, Croatia adopted a similar approach but had fewer shots at him because he played closer to the goal. Even deployed in a more attack-oriented position, he played into the 64th minute before finally producing an attempt on goal. It was blocked. He completed only 75 percent of his passes.

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Lionel Messi gets a hand to the face from Ivan Strinic. (Getty Images)

The problem wasn't his alone. Argentina's midfield did a miserable job both possessing the ball and finding its best player with it. Still, we ought to have known he was there.

This issue hasn't been uncommon when Messi has joined Argentina on the biggest stages, and it's somewhat true when he's with Barcelona, as well. 

This is not LeBron James scoring 51 points and watching in horror while J.R. Smith forgets the score. This is an incredible player whose excellence seems to retreat if every advantage is not in his favor.

"I feel a little like I've conned the public trying to tell them that Messi can get it going," Fox Sports analyst Ian Wright said. "Looking at his body language, why was I thinking something was going to change? He’s the leader, but he can’t get it going.”

Consider that of his 100 UEFA Champions League goals, only 11 were scored in the quarterfinals and beyond. Compare that to Ronaldo, who has scored 36 of his 120 Champions League goals in the latter stages of the tournament.

Granted, Ronaldo has played more Champions League games, giving him more opportunities to score Champions League goals, but that’s kind of the point. He has played more Champions League games. He has won the trophy five times to Messi’s three.

Ronaldo also has won a continental title with Portugal, in the 2016 European Championship. Messi has played four times in Copa America and lost three times in the final, not only failing to produce a single goal but also whiffing on his penalty shootout attempt in the 2016 Copa America Centenario.

Messi has scored 383 league goals in 418 games for FC Barcelona, and it requires an all-time great to produce such a staggering number, but think about how often he’s at an overwhelming advantage in those games. Save for those against Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, Barca enters every La Liga game with an overwhelming edge in talent.

Messi flourishes in those situations, surrounded in the past by greats such as Andres Iniesta and Xavi and Neymar, and this past season by Luis Suarez and Paulinho and for half the year by Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho.

The one stat that runs counter to this theory is his record in El Clasico games against Real. He scored in their 2-2 draw in May, bringing his total 27 in 39 games against Barca's fierce rival, a club that also is overrun annually with gifted players.

Although Argentina certainly is blessed with talent, the differential between its lineup and those of its opponents is not as profound, and the federation has done Messi no favors with its often haphazard operation, from choosing novice Diego Maradona for the 2010 World Cup cycle to the scandals that plagued the program two years ago and appeared to play a part in Messi’s brief retirement from international soccer.

"The national team is over for me," he told an Argentine TV station at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium in June 2016, after his most recent defeat in an international final. He said winning a championship with the senior national team was "the thing I wanted most."

It seems only slightly more in reach now than when he was retired. Argentina has one point after two games. The Argentines would be best served by a Nigeria draw Friday against Iceland in the other Group D game. If that were to develop, they would have a shot at advancing by defeating Nigeria on Tuesday in their last stage game.

That would mean Messi still would have time to elevate his international career to the level of his ability, to the level of his club success. It is not there now. You could see that throughout Thursday’s game, and after.

Mike DeCourcy

Mike DeCourcy Photo

Mike DeCourcy has been the college basketball columnist at The Sporting News since 1995. Starting with newspapers in Pittsburgh, Memphis and Cincinnati, he has written about the game for 35 years and covered 32 Final Fours. He is a member of the United States Basketball Writers Hall of Fame and is a studio analyst at the Big Ten Network and NCAA Tournament Bracket analyst for Fox Sports. He also writes frequently for TSN about soccer and the NFL. Mike was born in Pittsburgh, raised there during the City of Champions decade and graduated from Point Park University.