Lionel Messi: The magician who is yet to master the Selección

New Delhi: A free kick 25-yards outside goal, Lionel Messi steps up and scores a beautiful goal to break Gabriel Batistuta's record of the most number of goals for Argentina.

god of football https://t.co/Xmz0ezSCkf — megan (@queensulewski) June 22, 2016

The sports media all around the world is signing the praises of the Barcelona man as the best ever player in Football history, but is he even the best ever to play in an Argentine shirt? Forget about comparisons to Diego Maradona who lifted the World Cup with the Selección in 1986, has Messi done enough for Argentina to be even considered above Gabriel Batistuta?

Batistuta, who probably cannot be compared to Messi on individual accolades, has won the Copa America twice and the Confederations Cup once. The former Fiorentina superstar has been known to score in decisive matches and leading the national team to titles, something that the Barcelona forward has been hugely criticized for.

Whether it was the 2014 World Cup in Brazil or the 2015 Copa America in Chile, it can be rightly said that the occasion got the better of the 5-time World Player of the Year.

Not just the International honors, Gabriel Batistuta took just 78 games to reach the tally of 54 goals as compared to Lionel Messi who bagged his 55th goal on his 112th cap for the Argentina national team.

Whether club honors are enough to label Messi as the best ever remains a topic of debate but it can very well be understood that he needs to start delivering trophies at the international level too in order to earn the same level of respect and love as that of the Barcelona fans.