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Mark Twain once said that the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.
But I would add a third: the day I met Lionel Messi.
(Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
It was a sticky, humid, storm-strewn day in Fort Lauderdale in the summer of 2023, marking Messi’s arrival for Inter Miami. The day before the League Cup final, which would ultimately become Leo’s first trophy with the club, and his 44th career title, which would become a record.
But I was in one of the suites at the old Inter Miami stadium, waiting for an exclusive interview with a player I had covered – and like every other mortal – had marveled at throughout my life and career.
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
As a football journalist, the values of objectivity are imperative foundations of our work, and it is important to never get carried away when meeting someone you greatly admire. It also harkens back to the well-known saying that “you should never meet your heroes,” words of wisdom that have been spoken from one legendary icon (John Lennon) to another (Mick Jagger). But I actually attribute this advice more to lines from Gustave Flaubert’s 1856 novel Madame Bovary, who said: “Don’t touch your idols: a little gold always rubs off.”
But with Messi, gold never arrives.
And for me, to be a true sports soldier as a journalist, it is not enough to report on beautiful sport, you have to feel it. You have to live in the skin of what it means to be a supporter, because they are the heart, flesh and bones of a club or national team. So to meet Messi is to represent what it would mean for any Argentinian who would give their right arm to do the same. You owe them.
THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN Messi and I were talking about him and his family’s happiness, finally in Miami after leaving PSG, about his new life in the United States and the expectations for the next few years. And that was in the summer of 2023, shortly after winning the World Cup in Qatar and a few months before receiving his record eighth Ballon d’Or.
Messi, always an introvert, was extremely attentive, calm and thoughtful in his responses. This is a trait you all need to know. He is not shy but rather an inner thinker. But when I was a child, it was much worse at school. When he wanted to ask a teacher a question, he needed his best friend to do it for him. During his trial in Barcelona, when he was 13, established stars like Gerard Piqué and Cesc Fàbregas – of the famous 87 generation – would remember that Messi did not speak or ask questions.
But he didn’t need to because they learned that whatever he needed to say would be on the field.
Back to my meeting with Messi: I remember a moment when I asked him how successful the United States and MLS could be when it came to competing with countries like Europe. His response? “Their success depends on them.”
And the reason I bring this up is because it is this type of mindset that fully encapsulates Messi, as he has always been a person who truly believes that the rewards of triumph and prosperity are dictated by only one motivator: himself.
The mural from Messi’s childhood home. (Photo by MARCELO MANERA / AFP via Getty Images)
Messi grew up in Rosario, about 170 miles northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the city where the Argentine flag was first raised during the War of Independence in 1812.
Messi lived in a modest neighborhood called La Bajadain a house built by his father and grandfather. He played in the streets until sunset and continually kicked the ball at the same spot on the neighbor’s wall to get the angle just right. When he was playing for Newell’s Old Boys, his first trip outside Argentina was to Peru and the day before the big tournament he ate chicken which didn’t suit him. The next morning, the head coach was worried and wanted to take him to the hospital. Messi argued and said all he needed was Gatorade. He drank it, played in the tournament, and single-handedly led the team to win the entire tournament.
Messi, center, with his childhood club in Rosario. (Photo by Marcelo Manera/AFP via Getty Images)
DESPITE ALL THE The admiration, the fame and the attention, however, and the fact that he is a World Cup winner, a four-time Champions League champion and has won more individual trophies than anyone in the history of the sport, Messi remains that little boy who needed growth hormones to keep up with his peers. Throughout his life, he was neglected many times, but never ran away from the eternal feeling that destiny is something. You determine. And that’s why he’s the greatest of all time. It’s a journey of determination and will, mixed with the fact that what he does on the pitch is almost beyond belief.
From his “Ankara Messi” solo goal for Barcelona against Getafe in 2007 – mirroring Diego Maradona’s artwork in the 1986 World Cup against England – to my favorite (his golazo in the 2018 World Cup against Nigeria), Messi has given us countless magical moments.
But once again, it starts with unwavering determination.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for example, began with a shocking defeat to Saudi Arabia. But Messi used that as a catapult to explode to greatness with Argentina and win every game from that point on, including the electrifying final against France. In the midst of adversity, Messi – just like his real-life character – is actually very calm. Sure, you’ll often see emotion and arguments on the pitch, but in terms of goals and knowing what you need to do to win, he’s completely at peace.
“We couldn’t be upset because we knew he was calm,” said his former teammate Ángel Di María, speaking about the 2022 World Cup opening defeat to Saudi Arabia. “Why should I feel bad when the greatest [player] in the story, our captain is completely calm and sends a message to 45 million Argentines that this group will not let them down?”
(Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP via Getty Images)
And they didn’t.
And so, when we return to the present and look forward to Sunday’s World Cup final between Argentina and Spain at New York New Jersey Stadium, I can’t help but be extremely moved by the fact that this is Leo’s call-up to the World Cup. There is a sadness inside me because I just know that the day after tomorrow, whatever the score, Lionel Messi will never again honor us on the biggest stage.
Of course, anything can happen, and Messi could turn around and stick to the fact that as a 43-year-old superstar he will grace us with playing in 2030. Nothing is impossible and if anyone can do it, it’s him.
But that’s more wishful thinking than anything else. The harsh reality is that Sunday’s final will be the last time Messi exhorts his team with a speech akin to the Shakespearean prose of Henry V: ‘Once more to the breach, dear friends, once more…’
Let me change that sentiment, because it’s probably not the best idea to give the greatest living Argentinian a quote from the most famous English playwright. Let me focus instead on the timeless words of Buenos Aires-born Jorge Luis Borges, one of the most influential writers and poets in Spanish literature.
“For me, beauty is a physical sensation, something we feel with our whole body. It is not the result of judgment. We don’t get there by rules. We either feel beauty or we don’t.”
This is how I feel about Lionel Messi. Words are not enough. Neither does the narration. Or even a strong moment.
(Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP via Getty Images)
The GENIUS of Messi MUST to be felt, without restrictions or doubts. Because when he enters the field and dances with the ball, time stops. For everyone else, it goes very quickly, but for him, it’s calm. Messi changes direction like a thunderbolt, resisting the air and constantly avoiding air pockets. He doesn’t just create moments of awe, he leaves dust on the field only for an opponent to chase after a shadow he didn’t know existed.
Messi has always sought to deceive reality. He’s been doing this since he was five years old, when he first stepped onto a field under the illusion of an older child, when his beloved late grandmother lied to the coach and told him he was older than he looked.
After that, he never looked back and the world of football will never be the same.
(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Sunday’s match takes place against a team that he somehow helped build, as Lamine Yamal’s trajectory and La Masia’s many graduates are the result of the unwanted situation that occurred in 2021 when Messi had to leave his beloved Barcelona.
But this story has been told. This Sunday’s match involves Argentina and Spain, two Spanish-speaking nations who face each other in the land of immigrants. Right next to the stadium is the second largest shopping center in the United States, the american dream. It’s the perfect way to parallel the final, as it is indeed a match that represents this philosophy: the ultimate pursuit of happiness through hard work and perseverance, regardless of one’s journey.
Messi with his three sons. (Photo by German Adrasti/Getty Images)
Messi, like me, is a double immigrant. And like me, someone who left South America for Europe and eventually the United States. So I sympathize and strangely connect with his journey, which could come with even more history as he seeks to win back-to-back World Cup titles for Argentina. Something that has only been done twice in the history of the tournament.
History awaits. Just like the sadness of a final battle, of one last piece of poetry to write.
We will all become aware of all this with the persistent, albeit failed, hope that time remains frozen.
But we know that won’t happen. All we can do is stand up at the end of the match and, whatever the score, applaud the genius, shed a tear and thank the football gods who, through all their efforts, have given us the miracle of Lionel Messi.
