Luis Suarez Is 'Sure' Lionel Messi Will Reconsider Retirement from Argentina

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez is "sure" club team-mate Lionel Messi will reconsider his retirement from the Argentina national team after he stepped down after their Copa America Centenario final defeat.

Speaking in an interview with Uruguayan broadcaster Radio Tenfield, Suarez assured Messi will "change his mind" regarding his future with La Albiceleste (h/t beIN Sports):

Knowing Leo I'm sure he said it in a moment of sadness and helplessness.

It would be a shame for football if he takes this decision, but I'm sure he will reconsider and change his mind.

It is a difficult time. Everyone has the right to make their decisions and all are respectable. 

Whatever they say [he] will be the best player in the history of football.

Messi missed his spot-kick in the penalty-shootout defeat to Chile in the 2016 Copa America final before swiftly announcing his retirement from international football, having suffered similar disappointments in the past.

The former Argentina captain helped guide the team to the final of the 2014 World Cup, where they lost to Germany, before then taking his country to last year's Copa America final, again losing to Chile.

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

Messi was dejected following Argentina's defeat to Chile.

The 29-year-old's bitter reaction to a third major final defeat in the space of just two years appeared to take its toll on Messi, but Suarez seems certain this won't be the end of his days playing in blue and white.

Suarez isn't the only star striker who has voiced some defiance against Messi's decision, either, and Argentina legend Diego Maradona recently told local newspaperLa Nacion the Barca ace should reverse his decision (h/t BBC Sport):

Those saying he should quit don't want us to see what a disaster Argentinean football has become. 

Messi must go on. 

Messi has to stay because he will reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia in conditions to become world champion. 

The lads have to be supported more to help him take the team forward.

Despite all his achievements at club level and the individual awards that have come during his time with Barcelona, Messi's greatest international accolade remains his 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal.

South American broadcaster Juan Arango recently touched on the notion that individual greatness and international success don't necessarily correlate among great players:

Some have argued Argentina have come to rely too greatly on Messi since his emergence, but one would have to believe the team is better off with the star forward than without him.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner left a country reeling with the news of his early retirement, but having come to know the man since moving to the Camp Nou in 2014, Suarez believes Messi's Argentina career isn't over yet.