Former Paris Saint-Germain player Lionel Messi played all 90 minutes in Argentina’s 6-0 win over Bolivia on Tuesday night. Moreover, the 37-year-old continues to show he’s decisive in important fixtures.
Messi recorded a hat-trick and two assists against the South American counterpart, and one pundit wonders why PSG didn’t see this version of the Argentine during his two seasons in the French capital.
On Wednesday, RMC Sport’s Jérôme Rothen explained how he believes Messi cheated PSG of seeing the best version despite being in the latter stages of his career.
“I never thought Messi would be the one to cheat me like this,” Rothen began his remarks about the former PSG player. “When I watch him shine now, like you said, playing back-to-back matches for Inter Miami—yeah, we can say the MLS isn’t the same level as Europe, sure—but he’s out there, playing game after game, being decisive.
“These games might not mean much, but he’s playing them, he’s scoring goals, and he’s setting up assists. And then, he’s doing the same thing on the international stage. I knew they won 6-0 [against Bolivia], so sure, you think about skipping ahead, but you can’t because there are the goals, the assists he made, and how involved he is, how he moves between the lines, the effort he puts in.
“When I look at that, and then remember watching all his games at Parc des Princes, all the Paris Saint-Germain matches with Messi, whether they were small games or big Champions League nights—sure, he was decisive at times.
“And yeah, the stats speak for him a bit during his time at PSG… but with players like them, you stop looking at stats and focus on what they bring to the team, how they help the younger players, how they play alongside someone like Messi, maybe the greatest player ever. And yet, he dragged himself through those two years at PSG. The only time he really showed up was to prepare for the World Cup. In that stretch right before Qatar, we all saw that…
“As a Parisian, I felt lucky to watch Messi wear the PSG shirt, but what did he really give us? And then, when he did speak, he ended up criticizing everyone. Honestly, I feel beyond betrayed because you realize he wasn’t too old. He wasn’t mentally done.
“No, it was just a lack of desire, of wanting to embrace the situation. Looking back, it’s clear that the move to PSG was never going to work because he didn’t really want to be there. So he shouldn’t have come. That’s why I’m frustrated with him.”
It’s still unclear whether Messi will play in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but if he continues to play as he did against Bolivia, he can at least come off the bench or be a veteran presence. This next year and a half will determine whether the player can be fit to be part of Argentina’s participation as the reigning champions should qualify for the competition in North America.
