The last ball Lionel Messi kicked for Argentina could be sold for an eye-watering amount

While Cristiano Ronaldo is on the brink of major tournament success with Portugal, Lionel Messi called time on his international career earlier in the month.

There's probably no need to mention the bit about Ronaldo to be honest, but over the last few years making comparisons between the two has become habitual. Anyway... Messi's missed penalty in the Copa America final shoot-out turned out to be his final act in an Argentina shirt. Minutes after the 4-2 defeat to Chile on penalties, he announced that he had retired from international football - freeing up more time to concentrate on his club career at Barcelona and paying his taxes. As reported by Marca, one man that has done particularly well from Messi's decision is a Chilean going by the name of Pedro Vasquez - who managed to catch the errant ball. Pedro has claimed that since it became clear that Messi would never kick a ball in international football again (until he miraculously decides to come out of retirement just in time for the next World Cup), he's been offered some huge bids for the item, with the highest amounting to £23,000. Unsurprisingly, Pedro is considering selling up, especially if the value continues to rise.

"The truth is that if the ball becomes any more valuable, it would be a risk to have it in my house. I could sell it, it would depend on the circumstances. It is nice to have the ball, but if it keeps rising in price, I'll sell."

Given that there have been plenty of folk who are urging Messi to reconsider his international future, Pedro might want to get the thing on eBay pretty sharpish.