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Lionel Messi, the greatest soccer player in the world, lost his fourth championship match with Argentina this week. Immediately after the loss to Chile in the Copa America final, Messi quit international soccer.

And that sucks -- if Messi stays true to his words, which were spoken in the heat of the moment, not too long after he pushed a penalty kick over the bar. It sucks so much that a former NFL player, someone who knows a thing or two (or three or four) about losing in championship games, is offering Messi some advice.

Jim Kelly, who quarterbacked the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl losses in the early '90s, advised Messi to stop putting the weight of those four losses on his own back.

"The bottom line is, you go out there, you play your heart out," Kelly told ESPN. "You know you're one person on the team of a lot. Yeah, when you're the star, there's the old cliché, 'You get too much of the praise when you win, too much of the blame when you lose.' The thing is, for me, I knew that I had teammates. We all played together. We won as a team; we lost as a team.

"For me, I don't cry about it. Yeah, of course, I would love to have won one, two [Super Bowls]. I would have loved to win them all. It just wasn't in the good Lord's plans. I tried, I busted my butt. It just didn't happen. Go out and enjoy yourself."

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Jim Kelly says Lionel Messi shouldn't put the weight of the losses on his own back. USATSI

Sunday's penalty-kick loss to Chile marked Messi's third consecutive finals loss. He lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, he fell to Chile in the 2015 Copa America final, and -- again -- he fell to Chile in this year's Copa America final. Add in Argentina's loss to Brazil in the 2007 Copa America final and that brings his total to four missed chances in cup finals. As CBS Sports' Igor Mello pointed out, Argentina failed to score in their past three title matches, despite playing 120 minutes with extra time in each. Still, at least Messi didn't experience four consecutive losses like Kelly, though if he comes back for the 2018 World Cup he can go for the unfortunate streak.

After the latest loss, Messi's chances to return sounded grim.

"It is difficult, the time is hard for any analysis. In the dressing room I thought the national team was over for me, it is not for me," Messi said, per Argentina's social media account.

He then elaborated on his decision to walk away.

"I think it's best for everyone, for me and for many people who want it. The national team is over for me, it's a done decision. I tried many times [to win a title with Argentina] but did not," Messi told Argentine sports network TyC. "It's very difficult, but the decision has been made. I won't try it any longer and on this there will be no going back."

This is where Kelly would chime in and say that those losses aren't just on Messi, they're also on the team. Unfortunately, while Kelly's advice makes sense from his perspective, it doesn't really make sense for Messi.

Kelly never faced the kind of pressure Messi is faced with every time he puts on Argentina's uniform. Kelly carried the weight of Buffalo on his shoulders, Messi carries the weight of an entire country. Kelly wasn't playing with his legacy as the greatest quarterback in the history of the game at stake, but Messi is playing with his legacy as the greatest soccer player in the history of the sport on the line -- heck, he's even still battling Diego Maradona's claim as the greatest player in Argentine history because Maradona won a World Cup in his own historic career.

Nobody knows what kind of pressure Messi deals with because there's never been a soccer player of his caliber, which enhances his pressure to win a World Cup. Messi not winning a title is like Dan Marino not winning a Super Bowl. That matters, unfortunately, even though championships aren't always captured by the best team.

Hopefully, Messi changes his mind and returns for the 2018 World Cup. And hopefully, he does what Kelly and Marino could never do.