Lionel Messi left the World Cup in tears Saturday after Argentina was demolished 4-0 by Germany, once again unable to display his genius at the highest level of international football.

Messi showed only occasional flashes of his reputation as the world's best player during Argentina's first four matches in the tournament, but failed to deliver in the quarterfinal.

The 23-year-old forward could not score in South Africa, and neither he nor his team had an answer for the German onslaught in Cape Town on Saturday.

Still, Diego Maradona said Messi played a "great World Cup" and gave everything for his country.

"To see Messi cry in the dressing room, whoever says that he doesn't feel pride for his shirt is stupid," Maradona said.

The charge is an old one against Messi, who has won everything possible at club level for FC Barcelona but has yet to lift Argentina to glory. Critics compare him to Maradona, the inspiration behind Argentina's 1986 World Cup victory and its 1990 run to the final. Messi has scored 13 goals in 49 caps, but only one in nine World Cup appearances.

The match against Germany encapsulated Messi's tournament. He offered a couple of brilliant runs starting from deep in midfield and threaded through some fine passes, but the final touch eluded him. And this after scoring 47 goals for Barcelona this season.

Theories abound about Messi's inability to hit the right note in the national shirt. Argentina plays with different tactics. At Barcelona, Messi has a supporting cast that includes Spain's Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta in midfield.

Asked to compare his play for club and country in December, when he was awarded the 2009 FIFA world player of the year, Messi said he hoped the World Cup would change all.

Against Germany, Messi's team was already trailing 1-0 by the time he made his first impact on the match, beating two players with a dribble in the 10th minute before feeding the ball left to winger Angel Di Maria. As was the case throughout the match, Germany had an answer as captain Philipp Lahm tracked back to make a tackle.

After that, there was one superb through ball that was a just a hair too strong for teammate Carlos Tevez, and another that set up a shot for Gonzalo Higuain. But Messi never really broke free, failing in his runs to penetrate deep into the German defense and finding it hard to create enough space to unleash one of his typically powerful left-footed shots from distance.

Messi declined to speak to reporters after the match, too upset by the loss.

Germany coach Joachim Loew credited his team's preparations for keeping Argentina's top threat under control.

"We analysed their games and expected this lineup, and expected that Messi would drop into midfield," Loew said. "We managed to take him out of the game, keeping him under pressure without fouling him."

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