When I was a little boy, I fell in love with football because of its simplicity. I was taller, faster, and more coordinated than most kids my age, so football at this primitive stage in my life was just running past people and kicking the ball into the net. At this stage in my life, the sport was appealing because it was convenient to my skillset.

Eventually, I grew older and learned about the tactical intricacies of what had become my favorite sport. The game was far more interesting, but far less simple. I started playing at a much more competitive level, and started to realize how insanely difficult the sport really is. As a physically imposing striker with the ability to score powerful goals from dead ball situations, I idolized Ronaldo, Zlatan, Balotelli, Dzeko, Lewandowski, and other similar players.

No matter what team I played for, the preseason routine was always the same. When the time came for us to pick our kit numbers, the first kit picked was always the one with the #10 on the back. When I watched the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, it became obvious as to why that was the case. There was a shaggy haired phenom named Lionel Messi who played for Argentina, and his coach, Diego Maradona, invited comparisons between Messi and himself. I didn’t know much about Maradona at the time, but my dad told me that those words were high praise from a legend of the sport.

Messi used to wear these neon orange adidas F50 boots which matched perfectly with Barcelona’s 2012/13 away kit. I remember playing FIFA 13 on my Nintendo Wii, jamming out to the game’s incredible soundtrack as I ran up the score against my friends. I always played as Barcelona so that I could play with Messi and David Villa (my friends would piss me off by pronouncing his name as Day-vid Vill-uh rather than Dah-vid Vee-ya). Messi scored 91 goals in 2012, but for me, he mattered because was on the cover of FIFA 13, one of my favorite video games ever.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil was the first time that I was fully invested in the sport with no distractions. A full month of entertainment to enjoy, including a valiant effort from the USMNT. However, I remember that World Cup as the tournament which opened my eyes to the unparalleled greatness of Leo. His group stage was the stuff of legend. Two match winners, first against Bosnia and then a wonderstrike against Iran, and a two goal effort against Nigeria. With the exception of Angel Di Maria (who has had a truly legendary, massively underrated career for club and country in his own right) Messi was essentially all alone, dragging Argentina to the World Cup Final. He bore the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders, went above and beyond to deliver at almost every hurdle, and was still criticized for his subpar performance in the Final against a stacked Germany side. Messi was rightly awarded the golden ball (player of the tournament), but all people could talk about was how he came up short.

Watching Leo play football is unlike anything I have ever seen in my entire life. When the ball is at his feet, anything is possible. His quickness and agility is not compromised by being on the ball, rather, the ball merely serves as an appendage of his legendary left foot. His head is always up, scanning the field with the speed and efficiency of a supercomputer. He uses his miniature frame to his advantage, effortlessly darting around opponents and bouncing off of tackles. He stalks his prey like a lion, hiding in the shadows one moment and pouncing on an opportunity to spring into action the next, using his natural instincts and cunning intellect to create something out of nothing. A blind man sitting in front of his TV will know when Messi is on the ball from the roar of the crowd, swelling into life when they see #10 burst into action. Often times, Messi is simply indescribable. Sometimes I think that God put him on this Earth to entertain the masses with his footballing brilliance.

Above all, Messi plays the game with so much joy. He puts every ounce of his being into loving the game he plays, and the game loves him back. When he scores, he points to the heavens, dedicating his goals to his late grandmother. When he works his magic on the pitch, he wears a beaming smile, one which he cannot replicate for the paparazzi. He is unafraid to improvise on the pitch, hatching ingenious plans on the fly the way only he can. He is unafraid to make mistakes in the pursuit of excellence. He puts his heart and soul into every turn, every run, every pass, and every shot. 

Messi’s shocking (albeit temporary) retirement from international football came at the worst possible time. In 2015, he had lifted his third Champions League title with Barcelona. The attacking trio of Messi, Suarez, and Neymar (known affectionately as “MSN”) were breaking records left right and center. Messi was at the top of his game, but in the penalty shootout of the Copa America Final in 2016, he skied his penalty against Chile with the world watching. He hid his face in his shirt, unable to hold back tears. He had let his country down, and it seemed like no matter what he could accomplish at club level, things seemed to change for him with Argentina. He still hadn’t won a single trophy for his national team, and retiring in the wake of that heartbreaking loss to Chile at just 29 years old was a very bad look. He knew it too, reversing his decision just a couple of months later, vowing to help Argentina bounce back at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

2018 came and went, and it’s not really worth delving into why Argentina were so poor at that tournament. No one blamed Messi, he was mostly brilliant and scored an iconic goal against Nigeria to help Argentina escape a humiliating group stage exit, but many wondered if he would ever get another chance to redeem himself after losing two major finals with Argentina (2014 and 2016).

As Real Madrid returned to Spanish dominance in the late 2010’s behind legendary player-turned-manager Zinedine Zidane and a resurgent Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi’s heartbreaks multiplied. Despite his magnificent performances in the Champions League, Barca were dumped out of the knockout rounds in dramatic upset after dramatic upset, with the 2019 UCL semifinal against Liverpool being a particularly noteworthy example. Messi was visibly aging as he entered his 30’s, ditching his clean shave in favor of growing out his beard, and adding to his collection of colorful tattoos on his right arm. As these disappointments piled up, Messi’s signature smile appeared less and less. Instead, he often wore a frustrated wince characterized by a furrowed brow.

Messi has chosen an atypical lifestyle for a world famous athlete, as he lives a very private life. He’s a mild-mannered man who married his childhood sweetheart. He values spending quality time with his dog, his kids, and his closest friends. He never got caught up in the world famous nightlife of Barcelona. He’s never had any serious personal controversies. He never ruffled any feathers with the upper management at Barcelona, despite the fact that the board’s reckless financial management forced Messi to leave the club in August of 2021.

A month earlier, in July of 2021, Messi finally won his first major title with Argentina. Messi wore the captain’s armband as he lifted the Copa America on home soil after a heated final against archrivals Brazil. He finally had a squad around him which could adequately support him, particularly in defense. Goalkeeper Emi “El Dibu” Martinez had emerged from relative obscurity to become a national hero, and he subsequently became a personal hero for me as I made the awkward transition to becoming a goalkeeper myself. Relatively speaking, Emi and I are both late bloomers when it comes to our success between the sticks, but since he’s probably a better goalkeeper than me, I’ll end the comparisons there.

Heading into the 2022 World Cup, Messi and Argentina hadn’t lost a competitive match in almost 3 years. They were handed an easy group on paper, one which they were widely expected to win without breaking a sweat. They were promptly upset 2-1 by Saudi Arabia in their first group stage match, a historic loss to a massive underdog. In my mind, Argentina were going to respond in one of two ways:

1. Argentina completely collapses under the pressure they put themselves under, exiting the World Cup in humiliating fashion for the second straight time.
2. Argentina uses the loss as motivation to bounce back and fulfill their potential by winning their group and making a deep run in the knockout stage.

Thankfully, Argentina chose the second option. The first option would’ve been a truly devastating outcome for Messi, as most people expected that the 2022 World Cup would be his final appearance at the tournament given his age (35 years old).

You shouldn’t need me to tell you how good Lionel Messi was at the 2022 World Cup. It’s par for the course at this point, but it is worth noting that in Qatar, Messi became:

• The first player in history to win five Man of the Match awards at a single World Cup
• The first player in history to score in every stage of the knockout rounds at a single World Cup
• The first player in history to win two World Cup golden balls.

The 2022 World Cup Final will go down in history as one of the greatest single sporting events of all time. Argentina dominated the first 75 minutes of the match (one goal each from Messi and Di Maria), but France’s substitutions turned the tide. 23 year old superstar Kylian Mbappe who stole the show by scoring 2 goals in 2 minutes to level that match. Argentina’s defenders struggled to cope with the fresh legs of France’s Randal Kolo Muani, and they were lucky that France didn’t score a 3rd goal to complete an incredible late comeback.

In extra time, the match became a schoolyard affair, as the managers took a step back from their tactics to allow the flow of the match to fall into reckless abandon. This dynamic, end to end style of play from both teams was equal parts stressful and captivating. Who else to break the deadlock in the 108th minute but Leo Messi, finishing off a brilliant counter attack from Argentina, using his right foot to force the ball over the line from close range after a poorly-placed rebound bounced into his path. However, just 10 minutes later, an Mbappe rocket from the edge of the box struck the hand of Gonzalo Montiel, earning France a penalty which Kylian cooly dispatched in the 118th minute. Remarkably, the match was level again at 3-3. Shortly thereafter, Emi Martinez made the save of his life, a sprawling kick save to deny Kolo Muani from converting a decisive 1v1 opportunity. With Argentina and France fans alike catching whatever breath they had left, the referee blew the final whistle to send the World Cup Final into a penalty shootout. This match was an instant classic.

Messi and Mbappe each converted from the penalty spot to open the scoring for their respective nations, but when the dust settled, it was Emi Martinez who made the difference with a crucial penalty save. Gonzalo Montiel made the result official with the winning penalty (redeeming himself for the handball and then some), and Argentina became champions of the world for the first time since 1986.

When Montiel’s penalty kick hit the back of the net, Messi was overwhelmed with emotion, falling to his knees and crying tears of joy. His teammates surrounded him, lifted him up on their shoulders, and brought him over celebrate with the faithful Argentinians who never gave up on him. Through all of his trials and tribulations, with the weight of world on his shoulders, in the biggest moments he had ever faced, Lionel Messi had finally prevailed. He had cemented his place as the greatest of all time, but more importantly, he took Argentina to the promised land, and promises made became promises kept. When it came time to hand Argentina’s captain with the sport’s most iconic piece of silverware, the one which had always managed to elude him, Messi had no tears left to cry. Instead, he flashed his boyish smile, rubbed his hands together in anticipation, waltzed over to his dancing teammates, and lifted the golden trophy toward the heavens. 

I don’t know what the future holds for Lionel Messi. He claims that he wants to continue playing for Argentina with the aim of defending their World Cup title in 2026. At this point, I could care less. Messi has already given me enough memories to last a lifetime. He helped me fall in love with football. To that point, football is not just a sport, it’s his sport. Messi is the deity who millions upon millions idolize, wearing his trademark #10 on their backs and studying his every move. Messi is an unparalleled example of sporting excellence. Messi is a role model for children and adults alike. However, most importantly, Messi is a little boy from Rosario, Argentina who proved that it’s possible to turn even the wildest of dreams into reality.

Gracias, Leo.

——————————————————————–

Author: Ben Pawlak

Published: 12/19/22 at 6:30am EST

——————————————————————–

Sources/Works Cited:

Google Images, Google, https://images.google.com/imghp?hl=en.