There is no doubt Lionel Messi is one of the best to ever play the game. Messi is a footballing legend, and I am extremely grateful that I have gotten to grow up watching him play. At just 29 years old he has coupled numerous personal achievements and accolades with 28 major trophies for Barcelona, dazzling the world with his pace and prowess. His legacy will transcend generations of fans and players, but at the moment, his legacy is imperfect:

It is a number that haunts him, and the 41.5 million Argentinians who have placed their hearts at his feet. Despite becoming Argentina’s all-time leading scorer during the Copa America Centenario, Messi’s Argentina fell to defeat at the hands of Sanchez’s La Roja, with Higuain’s missed breakaway coming back to haunt them. Not to be forgotten is Messi’s missed penalty kick – the basis for this article being written, and a moment of personal anguish as Messi fell to the ground with the weight of the world preventing him from getting back up.

Since Messi officially debuted for Barcelona at the age of 17 in 2004, he quickly started drawing attention, galvanizing his home nation of Argentina. Without a successful squad since 1993, the country looked to a young Messi to finally bring back some hardware. Messi was able to capture the Olympic gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, but that was sandwiched by two quarter-final exits at the World Cup, as well as a few Copa America disappointments. The 2014 World Cup was almost the capstone to an already illustrious career for Messi – who won the Golden Ball for best player at the tournament – but Mario Götze, a late substitute for a powerful German side, did not deem it so. Again, Messi and his fellow countrymen found themselves at the cusp of glory with nothing to show for it.

As somebody who recognizes the privilege of witnessing the Messi era (and LeBron James, but that’s another story), it saddens me that his success and his legacy could be marred by the absence of any national team trophies. He’s experienced about as much success as you could imagine at the club level, but, like the sirens whispering mantic truths to Odysseus, the international stage has been cruel and elusive to the Messi-led Albiceleste. Unfortunately, if that continues to be the case, 20 years from now people will talk about how he never lifted a World Cup trophy, rather than how he lifted four Champions League trophies. That being the case, I really hope, for the sake of his legacy, that Messi does not follow through with his retirement from international football.

I certainly understand where he’s coming from. Argentina deserved the 2016 Copa America, and all he needed to do to make that happen was score a penalty kick. He wasn’t the only one who missed, but I still maintain the thought that seeing their captain falter at the stage, the Argentina squad was bound to lose the shootout. Messi knew it with his reaction after missing. He’s only human, but that reaction certainly did not inspire his teammates. Retiring from international soccer at only 29 years old, I think, would be a regrettable decision for Messi. He still his another four to six years (or more) of being a magnificent and impactful player, which he should commit to his national team. I am not suggesting that the pressures and emotions of the letdowns he has experienced with Argentina are negligible. But, I do think that if he quits now, he hasn’t given his all, because giving his all would be fighting all the way through to the end. Even if he wasn’t able to find success with Argentina in the next few years, he would go down in the books for at least dedicating his career to trying. And at the end of the day, even the most accomplished athletes face defeat, but you have to face that defeat knowing that you gave every ounce of effort and commitment.

If Messi quits now, while he’s at the bottom of the international game, that blemish will underlie his entire career.