Argentina lost in heart breaking fashion in the final of Copa America last weekend. One of the lasting images will be this missed penalty kick by Lionel Messi, who may go down as the greatest soccer player of all-time.
The loss marks the fourth time an Argentina team with Messi has lost in the final of a major soccer tournament. Among those who know what it’s like to lose four championship games is Jim Kelly, who helped the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls, coming up on the wrong end of the final score each time.
The legendary figure in Buffalo offered some words of encouragement for the Argentine soccer star, urging Messi to continue to enjoy himself.
“The bottom line is, you go out there, you play your heart out,” Kelly told ESPN. “You know you’re one person on the team of a lot. Yeah, when you’re the star, there’s the old cliché, ‘You get too much of the praise when you win, too much of the blame when you lose.’ The thing is, for me, I knew that I had teammates. We all played together. We won as a team; we lost as a team.”
“For me, I don’t cry about it. Yeah, of course, I would love to have won one, two Super Bowls. I would have loved to win them all. It just wasn’t in the good Lord’s plans. I tried, I busted my butt. It just didn’t happen. Go out and enjoy yourself.”
Messi was obviously distraught after last Sunday’s game and there were reports he may never play for his country again. The news has, understandably, not gone over well in Argentina and thousands are hoping Messi reconsiders. A statue in his likeness was even unveiled in Buenos Aires.
With the next World Cup just two years away, and Messi only 29-years-old, there’s hope he will be a member of the Argentina squad. Maybe Kelly’s words will help make that happen.
