Buenos Aires: Argentina football icon Lionel Messi has been accused by his grandfather of being lazy at the just-concluded Copa America.

Messi was not good enough in the final three matches of the tournament according to his grandfather, Antonio cuccitini. The FC Barcelona star striker scored just once against Paraguay, helping Argentina thrash 6-1 in the semi-finals. Argentina lost the final to hosts Chile 1-4 in the penalty shoot-out, after a 0-0 draw.

‘Some of him was there,’ Antonio was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk on Friday.

‘Triumphs are the greatest things there are. But the last three games he was bad, he was lazy.’

The loss to Chile was the second time Messi has endured heartache with his country in the past year, with defeat to Germany in last summer's FIFA World Cup final being another major disappointment for the 28-year-old.

History, however, will record that Messi also had three assists in the 6-1 victory over Paraguay.