I think Messi should go and try. He surely won't be the one to make them worse. His presence itself, at least I feel like that, gives Argentina a whole different power. He has no insane leadership qualities but people in Argentina worship him, and so do the other players. They have a special responsibility of not disappointing Messi, hence why most of them are completely different players for their nation and their clubs. That might change when Messi retires.
After all, Argentina has fair chances of going far into the World Cup. His teammates are good, he finally has a good coach and they go into the tournament with a lot of confidence.
But it's ok if Mara thinks he might get embarrassed, I understand that too. Anything can happen there and of course there are dangers. But I think, at the end when everything is over, all Argentinians will forgive Messi in that case. Nobody will forget 2022. There is nothing to lose for him really.
See posts like this are totally fine. You make good points and I would happily debate. But what The Stig said...
I didn't actually say he would get embarrassed - he might win it. I simply said that it's a risk and he could go out in a high instead - the other option of course is he wins and further enhances his legacy. But again, it is a risk.
As Horatio said though, it likely wouldn't damage his legacy if they are embarrassed as people will forget over time,
Either way it was a normal opinion to hold, something many people think (not just on Messi but life in general, finish at your highest point) and I got jumped on and abused for absolutely no reason by one poster. Just wanted to make clear that I am not saying I necessarily think he will be embarrassed - I even said he might do well. But 39 is an ancient age in football no matter who you are.
Either way, the passive-aggressive cutting and sniping of my posts by The Stig was unnecessary, before going on to call me unjust names, lie about what said or think, and act like me (and everyone else here by extension) are maggots next to Messi simply because we are inferior at football. There are some decent Messi fans on here, but if anyone thinks he's better than the rest of us simply because he's a football genius then they need to get their lives and perspectives/priorities right.
Football really isn't important in life, in the general scheme of things. We all love the game, but the game really doesn't matter in general.
Both he and Ronaldo seem like negative people, who just so happen to be brilliant at football. There's no need for anyone to idolise them like the extreme fans on both sides. I rate Messi as the joint-best of all time with Diego, but I dislike him as a guy, so I have a unique viewpoint (certainly on here) where I can praise him highly as a player but not get carried away and link it to him as a person.