Messi publicly announced his retirement from international football in the aftermath of Argentina’s penalty shootout defeat against Chile in the Copa America final last month.
The Barcelona ace missed the first penalty of the shootout as he suffered a third consecutive defeat in a major tournament final, and fourth in total, with his country. Minutes after Messi stunned the football world with the bombshell, Aguero claimed a number of Argentina players were also considering their futures.
And Aguero’s father, Leonel del Castillo, reckons the Manchester City striker will also hang up his boots if his close friend Messi sticks to his guns.
“If Leo goes, I believe Sergio will go also. They’ll leave room for new players,” Del Castillo told radio station Paladar Rojo.
“The reporters say that they [players] have completed a cycle, so I guess they should open the door for the next generation.”
Aguero has amassed 77 caps for Argentina since making his debut in 2006, scoring 33 goals in that time.
The 28-year-old, though, only started one match at the Copa America, scoring once in Argentina’s 5-0 win over Panama before going on to convert in the penalty shootout loss to Chile.
Del Castillo added: “The criticism hurts Sergio. The players are coming from the season in Europe, they are giving up their vacation, they are not being paid because the AFA [Argentine Football Association] is not paying them and their travel arrangements have not been done properly.
“They had to leave at 2am after waiting three to four hours in an airport.”
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