The Barca attacker has the chance to cap off a stunning 2015 as well as lead a fabled Argentine generation to a first senior title in 22 years against Chile on Saturday.

A year ago Lionel Messi led Argentina to the World Cup final ... and lost. It was, perhaps, the biggest disappointment in a career that counts far more highs than lows. The awkward fact is that more of those lows have come in the famous light blue and white stripes of the national team, but the moments of ecstasy have been the reserve of Barcelona. Trebles, Ballons d'Or, the goal-scoring records and all the rest of it, those are primarily facilitated by Messi's work for his club.It has left a curious, yet on some level understandable, ambivalence towards the best player in the world from his countrymen. Every Argentine has their favorite, as much for what they've done as what they've won. Diego Maradona, naturally, tops most people's lists, but folk heroes like Fernando Redondo or Juan Roman Riquelme still make football fans all over the country peer wistfully in the distance more than Messi does.The defeat in the World Cup final, at the end of a knockout stage in which Messi did not exactly confirm his status as the best player at the tournament despite being awarded that honor, only served to reinforce the notion than Messi is no Maradona. Messi-led, Argentina went closer to the World Cup than any team representing the nation since Maradona's day.He, personally, could not have done much more to bring about a victory. He fell short. He still has to demonstrate he is a winner for Argentina like he is for Barca."I would give everything to win the Copa America," he told La Nacion before the games kicked off here in Chile. "This group deserves it for the way they fight. We had a great World Cup and we deserve it. It's what I dream of. Winning the Copa America would us some give peace of mind for the coming World Cup qualifiers. Not only for my teammates, for the coach and for me, but for the country, too. The fans also want us to succeed."In Maradona's pomp, the Copa America was a second-rate competition — he never won it but for different reasons than Messi. The fact the Uruguay, and not Brazil or Argentina, is the most decorated team in the cup's 99-year history should illustrate that point. Brazil and the Argentines had bigger fish to fry — the World Cup to win.Times change. Now the Copa America is probably as hard to win as the World Cup as Argentina prepares to take on Chile at the Estadio Nacional on Saturday. Four of the world's top 10 nations are competing in Chile along with the hosts themselves who are undervalued in the FIFA ranking at 19. The last two editions of the tournament have been the most keenly contested since the Copa restructured in time for the 1991 edition. In short, people care now like they never did before.There are a number of reasons why Argentina, and Messi, need to win this championship. The side currently coached by Tata Martino is without a trophy since lifting the Copa in Ecuador in 1993. Argentina is 22 years without lifting a cup. For a side heavy on football heritage, that is nothing short of scandalous."It’s important for us, and for Argentina, because it’s been a while since we last won it," Messi said before the tournament.This Argentina squad is probably the greatest since 1994 when it boasted Maradona, Redondo and Gabriel Batistuta. Argentina has rarely looked so complete across all sectors of the pitch. It would probably win the Premier League and there are not many international sides about whom that could be said.Moreover, a good number among the team have grown up together, winning Under-20 World Cups in 2005 and 2007 as well as the Olympics in 2008. The likes of Sergio Romero, Pablo Zabaleta, Ezequiel Garay, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Gago, Ever Banega, Lucas Biglia, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Messi, however, are unfulfilled at senior level.All those players are present and correct in Chile having won one, two or all of those under-age honors with Argentina; nearly half the squad. Messi himself won in 2005, also carries Olympic Gold and has completed a decade in the national team shirt, picking up a century of caps."I've been through situations that have helped me grow as a player, but unfortunately with no title to show for it," Messi told the press last month. "Hopefully I'll have one to go with these 100 games."This generation, and Messi, is too good to win nothing. That might well be the sentiment felt by the players themselves and so this Copa campaign took on added significance following World Cup heartbreak."I’d love to win the Copa America for everything it would mean for us after enjoying a spectacular World Cup and coming so close," Messi said. "This Argentina generation wants to win and we’re aware that we are the favorites. As a team, we deserve to win something. We know that it would be the best thing ever to end the season by lifting the Copa America."Messi is the leader, if not of a new generation, then of the current one. This is the one that needs to win more than any other.By the time the World Cup rolls around in 2018, Messi will be 31. There will still be plenty of gas in the tank for Messi and Argentina by that point, and approaching Russia as continental champion would foster a sense of supremacy. Furthermore, Messi has proven over the past six months that he is capable of reinvention on a scale not available to his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.That evolution is perhaps best evidenced by the fact he has scored only one goal at Chile 2015, and that from the penalty spot, but leads the tournament in assists. His was the most complete performance of the match in the semifinal against Paraguay even if he failed to register.The treble with Barcelona, the Ballon d'Or in the bag, the Puskas award in the pipeline after that goal against Athletic Bilbao, this has been the year of Messi not only on an individual level but a collective one. While defeat in the final against host Chile would not detract from Messi's year, outside of Argentina at least, winning it would solidify his stance as the best player in the world bar none."Winning the Copa would round off something spectacular," he said after his three assists helped set up a 6-1 demolition of Paraguay in the semifinals. "I really want to win something with the national team."Argentina will make sure it is regarded as the best on the continent by winning the Copa. Messi needs it, Argentina needs it, these players need it - as much as they did the World Cup.