The two icons of Tata Martino's team are seen in very different lights back home in Argentina, and things have become more complicated since Tevez arrived back on the scene

ANALYSIS By Ezequiel Scher and Sam Lee

The 2011 Copa America signalled a change in direction for Argentina . After failure on home turf, Sergio Batista was gone as coach and, after a quick phone call, Alejandro Sabella was in... under one condition: that he could meet with Javier Mascherano as soon as possible. Sabella asked the midfielder if he would step aside as captain and give the armband to Lionel Messi , a request that was accepted immediately. Sabella also decided that Carlos Tevez's days in the national team were numbered.One found himself leading the group, the other was cast aside. It was the key moment in the already distant relationship between Tevez and Messi, and one which sparked a rivalry among supporters which has become one of the biggest talking points in modern Argentine football.Tevez and Messi have similar lives, but have their own way of living them. Perhaps most importantly, they are perceived very differently. Both, of course, are Argentine, even if they differ in how they express it. Tevez shot to fame in his homeland, a Boca Juniors idol; he even once said it was better to be with his beloved club than with the national team - not what you would expect from somebody regarded as Argentina's true modern hero.Messi has never played Argentine club football, he's a Barcelona idol but, despite attempts since he was a boy to make him play for Spain, he's always chosen his country of birth.Tevez won titles at almost all his clubs, although at each one he had problems with managers or team-mates. Messi has won everything possible at Barcelona, he doesn't usually find himself in the centre of conflicts, although his serious character means he's not above losing his temper.The final point is where they are most similar: the two, as with the very best in world sport, are obsessed with winning.But in a national team where friendship between the players has been key, Tevez never manged to become part of the close circle formed by Messi, Mascherano, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta and one or two others.The relationship was never great, but it was never terrible.Things came to a head, though, four years ago. With the Copa America hosted in their own country, and with a favourable draw to boot, Argentina were expected to end their 19-year wait for senior glory.But after laboured draws with Bolivia and Colombia in their first two games, Tevez was the one dropped for the final group clash with Costa Rica's second string. A 3-0 victory was only enough for second place, and Uruguay lay in wait in Santa Fe. On the bench again, Tevez's overwhelming popularity was laid bare when the stadium announcer introduced the No.11 as "el jugador del pueblo" - the people's player. It got the loudest roar of the night.Tevez came off the bench before extra-time but could not avert a penalty shoot-out. Messi, kept waiting for what seemed an eternity, calmly buried the very first spot-kick. Tevez missed the only penalty of the night. The die had long been cast, however: it was Messi who took the blame for the whole tournament. "Why," it was wondered, "does he play so well for Barcelona but not for us? At least Tevez runs his balls off."That has been the narrative for years. As the two key figures of the squad, the Argentine public ended up picking sides and the majority plumped for Tevez, el jugador del pueblo.Sabella had other ideas, and it was Messi chosen to take the country forward. That match at Colón's stadium - known as the Elephant's Graveyard - looked to be Tevez's final match for his country.With Tevez out of the picture, the fans simply stopped falling in love with the Barcelona icon; every new height he reached with his club became almost another stick with which to beat him - why can't he do that for us?The World Cup in Brazil changed all that. Even if there were calls for Tevez to be reinstated ahead of the tournament, they were quickly forgotten when Messi became - finally, some would suggest - the difference-maker for his country. In what proved to be a trickier group than expected, he scored what proved to be the winner against Bosnia, curled in a stoppage-time beauty against a very stubborn Iran, and put another two golazos past Nigeria.The tide was turning and even if he didn't hit those heights for the rest of the tournament, he had already done enough for Argentines to recognise him as their driving force.Defeat in the final clearly hit Messi as hard as it hit the rest of his compatriots, thousands of which had packed the streets of Brazil in anticipation of their first World Cup win since Diego Maradona lead them to glory in 1986.Messi could not quite emulate El Pibe de Oro, but he was at least he was getting recognition.Since Tata Martino took over from Sabella, however, everything has gone back to how it was before. After three years in the international wilderness, Tevez was back, called up for friendlies last October.He made the Copa America squad, too, and excorcised those Santa Fe demons when he came off the bench in the quarter-final against Colombia and netted the winning penalty. During that very same game, his return to Boca Juniors - home - was confirmed.Despite La Albiceleste making the final, Messi had another quiet tournament for his country, and when Chile stood firm and took the title on penalties, the simmering discontent among Argentina fans was unleashed and, in places, became outright abuse. From the terraces to internet message boards, many told him, in no uncertain terms, to stay in Barcelona and not bother playing for Argentina again.Unlike the aftermath of the 2011 Copa America, both men are still on the scene. According to sources close to the players, their relationship is just fine.But with Tevez now back home at La Bombonera, and the Copa America fall-out still rumbling on for Messi, there's a long way to go in this story.