You know what it must be like to live like this Lionel Messi for a day? Be Messi for 24 hours? Perhaps the reflexive action of the majority goes in the same direction: fame, success, unlimited money, luxuries… Anyone can think that this combination guarantees that this day will be unforgettable. Now think again… Be Messi?
Let’s try to think together, but believe me it will cost us. Do you know what it is to dream of being a football player? Definitely yes. After all, who doesn’t grow up in Argentina kicking a ball around. Now, you know what it’s like to start really dreaming and your body starts to get in the way? Maybe it’s not that common. Do you know what it’s like to start closing doors that fill your dream with stones? Do you know what it’s like to need medical care and pay for it is almost impossible? Do you know what it must be like to smile at the possibility of having this treatment, but at a very high price and that doesn’t come through money?
Messi went from the dream like another child to the uprooted. From growing up wanting something and thinking about it at an age of innocence and unconsciousness, he ended up having to leave everything behind to get it. His home, his family, his friends, the pasture, the land that is muddy on rainy days… The normal for a boy from this country, what we parents who have been in the business for a while had and enjoyed . and that, at the same time, we believe that our children may be lost to the logical (and, in this case, cruel) progression of life, in which a screen kills them small field.
It costs money, doesn’t it? Well, we know that Messi has traveled these waters. And yet, the story was just beginning. Do you know what it takes to do your job well being from a country as beautiful and complicated as ours? Mean, Do you know what a soccer promise should be in Argentina? And no, it’s for a few. But you know what it must be like to be not only a promise, but to be considered “the next Maradona”? Well, this is where the exercise starts to get complicated. Because there is only one Maradona, on and off the field. And Maradona is much more than a great footballer. It is a myth, a legend, an image that marked a country with fire. It’s the closest thing to an intact figure for those here, given how hard it is to agree on this ground.
Little by little the boy who went to the other side of the world and left a life behind began to grow up and become Messi. He turned the extraordinary into routine, the impossible into everyday. Messi won. Again and again. He won ad nauseam perhaps. Score a goal. Lots of goals. He broke all sorts of records, so much so that every history book today has his name at the top of almost all of them. But of course, Messi did it in Barcelona. And he didn’t do it in Argentina. And in this country, as complex as few others, that almost seems like a crime.
It is that we Argentinians carry our biggest illusions on the backs of athletes, but especially footballers, and we demand them more than anyone else. We Argentinians are, for the most part, long-suffering. We are navigating almost in a loop of economic and political crises that completely break us, that divide us, that fill us with mistrust. But this ball and this sport can be a balm. Maybe you are struggling to make ends meet and inflation is hitting you one slap after another. But the weekend comes, your team wins and you forget everything, if only for a while. Like your body was transported to another side. There is no multiverse, but know that soccer here in Argentina is more than just soccer. And there is no need to explain the passion.
But let’s get back to Messi. Turns out he didn’t win in Argentina. And it doesn’t matter if he became the best in history for many. “He didn’t do it here, period”. It doesn’t matter how hard or how he tried, eh. He didn’t do it here and there is no other option that is acceptable. Do you know what it’s like to be the best at something? No, it is for the enlightened. Good, Do you know what it’s like to be the best at something as transcendent as soccer in a place like Argentina and at the same time be challenged by that place?
Here is born, perhaps, the greatest legacy of Lionel Andrés Messi. Because Messi gave us Argentinians a history lesson, probably without wanting to. Just Messi, that little boy from Rosario full of dreams of a pasture, just wanted to play ball and become a world champion. Today it is, but the movie that ends with that kiss in the most beautiful cup of all in Qatar had a path where it took the worst hits: the condemnation of his land.
More | Why was Argentina the last country to love Messi?
We Argentines gave Messi many reasons to stop believing, not only in us, but also in his dream. To make him stop trying. We almost made it easy for him to let go of our hand. He was tempted, eh, because he threatened a goodbye that still breaks the hearts of those of us who adore him. But no. Messi endured. She did it for him, because he never stopped being that dreamy baby. But even when he didn’t have to, he knew he had to do it for more people, for the 45 million. He knew this despite the contempt with which he was treated at times.
You knew that? Thanks Leo. Why didn’t you hold a grudge, because the easiest thing was to resort to what you had and run away from us. But you taught us that it doesn’t matter how much you are beaten, how much you are punished and how deep the pain that is created when dreams are chased. And of course, you also taught us to pick ourselves up, to never stop trying. No matter how much time passes, the legs are heavy, the pressure is roaring… You taught us that dreams are not dreams when you work for them, because effort is what moves realities. You taught us that humility can (and should) be a flag at all times.
But of course, his legacy will not be just this teaching. Nor will it be that blessed, long-awaited and coveted third star. Let’s be clear, winning the World Cup is unique and no one is discounting the price. But you know what? Messi made the world happy. To the “strangers”, because in these weeks, months and even years we saw how much those who were not born here wanted me to win this cup. Above all, however, Messi made his people happy. Yes, not only to those who never let go of his hand, but also to those who doubted him. And believe me happiness is priceless.
In crackland, Messi has united us like no one else in who knows how long. Messi and the entire Argentina National Team, that beautiful group that formed and motored… From and to Messi, because they all confessed that they wanted to win the cup more for him than for themselves. Messi made us the happiest people in the world. And yes, it may sound presumptuous, but did you see how the celebrations were, on title day and when the team arrived in the country? Know that this was Argentina in its purest form. And no, don’t be fooled by the cheap and simplistic talk of chaos and disorganization. It’s not Argentina.
Argentina is what we saw and experienced on December 18 and, above all, on December 20, 2022, the day of the largest popular demonstration in our history. Argentina is the spontaneous and genuine happiness of its people. It is to gather, with acquaintances and strangers, to celebrate a common joy. Or just get together. It is hugging you with a friend or the one you see passing by. It’s like “don’t fall” in the middle of a pedestrianized highway. It’s the song of 45 million coming together to say thank you. Many, but especially Messi. Because Messi with his left foot and the shirt with the number 10 made a punished people in need of happiness. And being happy, even if it seems trivial, is what remains. Because the day our life ends we are not going to get money, houses, cars or anything material. We will fade away with the memory that we lived and enjoyed moments, with the certainty that we smiled when we had that time that never comes back.
Messi gave more than half of us Argentinians what we had not been able to experience. And not only did he bring joy to this entire generation, he brought many generations together through this magical, wonderful (and sometimes absurd) football. Because we kids who are parents today are making every effort to share this World Cup with our beloved mini fans. Because the children who are parents today, at least those who could, stopped imagining what your old man was telling you to live with him, and those of us who couldn’t, threw a kiss to the sky and hugged tightly imagining that hug, with tears in their eyes. And because there were definitely kids who are parents today, hugging your old man and your old man, connecting those three stars as only this sport can.
Want to know why Lionel Messi is The Sporting News Sportsman of the Year? You have to know that everything goes way beyond the ball. Let’s use Messi’s own words after the holidays: “Don’t try to figure it out”.
