What, is not Ginobili comparable to Messi in regards to accomplishments as an Argentine athlete? Messi hasn't won any international tournaments yet meanwhile Manu has an Olympic Gold medal IN BASKETBALL which is about the most coveted Gold medal in the Olympics considering how much the Americans essentially own it.
Don't think the Argentinians don't like Manu, don't think they don't like their FIBA basketball team, indeed the landscape is changing worldwide as so many countries field great basketball and especially baseball players. Interesting that over the next ten years we may see a huge reversal..
The USA has always not been competitive at futbol because all our athletes play soccer for fun more or less then focus on NBA, NFL, or MLB or even Olympic sports for their professional careers. Meanwhile in other countries most athletes play American sports for fun but commit to futbol professionally.. YET increasingly over the past decades international players are filling up the ranks of MLB (upwards of 40% are foreign born, particular from Japan/Korea and Central America/Caribbean) and NBA (25% are foreign born, many from France/Spain/Argentina who are traditional futbol countries)... There is a significant shift in athletes' focus.
International players are more and more competitive at American sports and filling the ranks of American teams meanwhile the USA is gradually getting better at futbol.. What if in 10 or 20 years Spain and Argentina are the basketball countries and USA becomes a futbol country?? Don't sleep on it, demographics are suggesting it strongly possible
