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The Barcelona trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar – or MSN – is probably the best attacking force in soccer history. The unbelievable chemistry of the trio combined with the outrageous individual skills they all possess makes MSN unstoppable. Yet, for all their unbelievable achievements with Barcelona, success at the national level has evaded all of them. Sure, Suarez has a Copa America under his belt, and Neymar won the Confederation's Cup, but these are small potatoes compared to the ultimate prize: the World Cup.
None of these men, who could be on the verge of making history by winning a double treble with Barcelona, have had success on soccer's biggest stage. The burden of carrying a country to glory is a heavy one, but it falls particularly hard on all three of these men, whose achievements at club level kindle the fires of hope in their countries' hearts.
These three men shared a common trait at World Cup 2014: Heartbreak. Russia 2018 may be the last shot at glory for Suarez and Messi, and the Copa America Centenario this summer will prove a good opportunity for all three players to demonstrate their worth to their respective countries. With that in mind, we ask the question: Out of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez , who is more valuable to his national team?
Lionel Messi
We start with the almost undisputed best player in the world. Messi is synonymous with Messiah to Barcelona fans, and his collection of five Ballon D'Ors, four Champions League trophies and seven Liga titles are proof of his unreal abilities. Yet, his relationship with the national team is complicated. He is inevitably compared with Diego Maradona, whose legacy in Argentina almost borders on mythology. Because Messi left Argentina at an early age for Barcelona, he has sometimes been accused of being more Spanish than Argentinian, or that he tries more for Barca than his national team. By contrast, Maradona was a rough kid from the streets, who made his name in Argentina before moving abroad, and of course, he won a World Cup. In an excellent article from the New York Times, Jere Longman wrote:
"For many, Maradona's legend is unassailable. The game was in his blood, not just his head and his legs. Where Messi is middle-class and phlegmatic, Maradona was poor and outrageous, even anarchic."
Messi constantly lives in the shadow of Diego Maradona. Photo: @theScore | Twitter
Longman continues to point out, however, that these feelings are mostly found in those of the older generation; those that remember Maradona in his prime.
Maradona's brilliance and his demons were representative of a tumultuous time in Argentinian history, that included the defeat in the Falklands and the end of a military dictatorship. He represented hope for Argentina in an era of oppression and anguish. Messi cannot hope to touch those same emotions and passions that Maradona inspired, and nor should he be expected to. It's a different era, he is a different player and soccer, in many ways, is a different sport.
Yet there is more to this issue than symbolism and the shadow of Maradona. Messi's performances on the pitch have also come under scrutiny. While Messi has scored 50 and assisted 37 goals in 103 matches for Argentina, he has still yet to score in a knockout round at the World Cup. The criticism he receives is similar to that which Wayne Rooney faces for England: Great in qualifying, but falls short when it matters.
Like Rooney, Messi is the captain of his national side and his teammates have nothing but praise for their talisman, yet Messi is far from the only superstar of the Argentina side. Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria and the up-and-coming Paulo Dybala are all superstars in their own right, and their presence means that Messi's importance is somewhat lessened. That's not to say that Messi is not the best player on the team, but more to say that Argentina are not in dire straits if he is unavailable.
Despite that fact, the blame always seems to fall squarely on Messi's shoulders, a frustration that boiled over when Messi gave an interview to TyC Sports (H/T SB Nation).
"I get annoyed when they tell us put in more effort, you don't feel the shirt," Messi said. "We were lucky enough to get to the final of the World Cup and the Copa America and it seems like we didn't do anything. We got to two finals, for f--k's sake."
Lionel Messi's situation is to be pitied. The pressure on him is unfair in the extreme but the unfortunate reality is that, unless he lifts a World Cup and cements his legacy, his importance to the Argentinian national side will always be downplayed in the history books.
Neymar
Photo: @GoalUK | Twitter
In many ways, Neymar suffers from a similar set of circumstances as that of Lionel Messi. Being the brightest star in a country that lives and breathes soccer, Neymar will always be in the shadow of Pele. Yet Neymar differs in the fact that he is not surrounded by the same talent as Messi.
While they have undisputed talent, Brazil have long suffered from the lack of a quality goalscorer, arguably since Ronaldo retired. Neymar has filled that hole nicely, scoring 46 goals and assisting 28 in 70 games. He had a good World Cup and had scored 4 and assisted 1 in 5 games before a broken vertebra against Columbia cut his tournament short. Neymar was out for the match against Germany, and we all remember what happened next.
Despite the fact that Neymar had not even played in the match, fans burned his shirt in the streets after Brazil were destroyed 7-1. That is the huge pressure that Neymar faces as Brazil's brightest star. You can have a good tournament, basically contribute a goal per game, and even though you didn't play, fans can still find you at fault for the loss.
To make things even worse for Neymar, Pele himself came out and was publicly critical of his workrate (H/T The Daily Mail).
"Neymar is an attacker, he plays up front, that is it," said Pele. "He does not track back, does not organise and does not come out to play."
Things haven't improved much since the World Cup. Having taken the captain's armband during the Copa America, Neymar lost his cool against Columbia and was banned for four games for head-butting an opponent. Brazil were promptly knocked out by Paraguay in the quarter-finals.
Then, in this most recent international break, Neymar picked up a yellow card against Uruguay which left him out of contention for the Paraguay game. Again, Neymar lost his cool, and was arguably lucky to not get sent off. He was later seen out partying after the game, which caused quite a stir in the Brazilian press after what was a pretty poor performance from Brazil. The AS reported that Neymar has now missed five competitive matches under Dunga, and has picked up five bookings while scoring only four times in 10 matches.
Neymar benefits from the fact that, at 24, he's still young. He probably has at least two more World Cups to participate in, and the future is still bright for him. But as we saw at the World Cup, the pressure on him to perform is immense, and now that he's taken the captain's armband, that pressure will only increase. In a frankly mediocre Brazilian side, Neymar is the one who will be relied on to help them succeed and he is unquestionably their most important player. However, his inability to control his temper and a continued lack of performance when the stakes are high could see the fans turn on him very quickly.
Luis Suarez
Photo: @FIFAWorldCup | Twitter
Suarez differs from both Messi and Neymar in that he was never touted as a wunderkind. In fact, nobody really started to appreciate his talent until that memorable season with Liverpool, where Suarez and Daniel Sturridge almost led the Merseysiders to the Premier League title. That grabbed the attention of Barcelona and the rest, as they say, is history.
Because he bloomed relatively late, at least compared to Messi and Neymar, he doesn't seem to have the same amount of pressure that the other two have. He is a selfless player who works very hard for his team, and that appears to have endeared him to the fans. On top of that, Suarez, alongside Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani, formed the front line of one of the best Uruguayan teams in forty years.
Uruguay are a small country with a proud history of success in the early 20th century, and have won the Copa America a record 15 times. However, Uruguay's national team fortunes took a significant nose dive after 1974, with the team falling to 76th in the FIFA rankings at one point. But then came Suarez, Forlan and Cavani, who led Uruguay to a fourth-place finish in the 2010 World Cup, and their role in bringing Uruguay back to relevance on the international circuit has undoubtedly earned them reverance in the eyes of their fans.
For proof of this, look no further than when Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini. After being banned by FIFA and having been sent home from the World Cup in disgrace, Suarez arrived home to a hero's welcome at Montevideo airport, with thousands of fans showing their support for the striker. Compare this to the reaction that Messi got at the airport after winning the Club World Cup with Barcelona, where fans spat at him and insulted him.
Compared to Neymar and Messi, Suarez's numbers for the national team are pretty weak (in relative terms). He has scored 44 goals and assisted 18 in 81 appearances, which is nowhere near the ratio that his compatriots are racking up. However, what sets Suarez apart is his big game mentality.
Suarez is an excellent tournament player. He has scored 4 and assisted 2 in 6 games in the Copa America and scored 5 and assisted 3 in 8 games in the World Cup. He also harasses defenders constantly, chases lost causes and gives 100% in every game. Nobody can doubt Suarez's commitment and that is most likely why he earns such love from the fans at home. While he is definitely one of the best players on Uruguay's national team, no one player plays the talisman for La Celeste, and that is probably for the better because it means less pressure.
So who out of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez is more important to their national team?
Lionel Messi loses out simply because there are so many good players on Argentina, and his own performances in big games are under a certain amount of scrutiny. Neymar is certainly very important to Brazil and is their main source of goals at the moment, but his youth, inexperience and lack of discipline undermines his importance. Perhaps by Russia 2018, he will have matured and he will become the player that Brazil hope he can be, but for now, he is not there yet.
That just leaves Luis Suarez, who is by far the most important player for his national side. He is a hardworking, team-oriented player, he has a proven track record of performing in big games, and he has helped Uruguay perform at the highest level after years out of the spotlight. He may have his disciplinary problems, but he is certainly a player that Uruguay cannot do without, as witnessed by their disappointing exit in the Copa America last year. In fact, at the moment, he's a player that Barcelona cannot do without as well.
Follow me on Twitter @J_Hansen_89
