Lionel Messi apologised for scoring in Club World Cup final for Barcelona in 2015

Lionel Messi’s relationship with Argentina and its fans has been an emotional rollercoaster.

It wasn’t until the Paris Saint-Germain star led his nation to its first trophy of the 21st century with Copa America glory last summer that it truly felt as though the country had given its heart to him.

There has always been a feeling in Europe, rightly or wrong, that the affections of most Argentina fans were still very much reserved for Diego Maradona.

Power to them, by the way, because it’s not a popularity contest and both icons deserve to be loved, but you always just got the sense that there was a certain level of resentment levelled at Messi for not having achieved the feats that Maradona did.

And that was especially the case in the mid-2010s when defeats in the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals, as well as the 2014 World Cup final, led to Messi briefly retiring from international football.

However, even in those deepest, darkest moments when it looked as though the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner simply couldn’t crack the international game, his love for Argentina never wavered.

In fact, amidst that most difficult of periods, Messi actually went head-to-head with a club from his native land, which really is a rare occurrence given that he’s spent his entire professional career in Europe.

But alas, the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup presented one of those infrequent opportunities as Barcelona looked to follow up their fifth Champions League success by conquering the globe.

And only River Plate of Buenos Aires stood in their way during the final in Yokohama with Messi having a rare chance to play in front of his compatriots in a club fixture.

In the end, to the surprise of very few, Barcelona ran out comfortable victors with Luis