ON TUESDAY NIGHT, under the cloudy skies of Buenos Aires, as Argentina sorrowfully said goodbye to Lionel Messi in his final match for the national team, there was a very specific moment that I can’t erase out of my mind.
(Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP via Getty Images)
It wasn’t the crowd’s energy chanting his name upon scoring his 126th goal, nor the light drone show that extravagantly produced a tribute for the more than 85,000 witnesses packed into Estadio Más Monumental. It wasn’t Enzo Fernández’s uncontrollable tears or even Messi’s reflective speech where he solemnly remembered his late father as well as his nation.
It wasn’t any of this.
The moment that truly and fervently grabbed and brought me to tears was when Thiago Messi — Leo’s 13-year-old and oldest son — approached his father during the post-game tributes and embraced him with a hug. Both consoled each other, crying in a sea of emotion because Thiago knew that his father’s impact on the nation had been so powerful that this international retirement was almost too much to take in.
(Photo by Tobias Skarlovnik/Getty Images)
LIONEL MESSI’S INTERNATIONAL career cannot be defined simply by goals or assists, nor by the trophies he has accumulated along the way. There simply isn’t a barometer on the planet that can measure his greatness, because what Messi has provided for Argentinians — and the footballing world — is not just about his own excellence.
The real beauty is about the obstacles in Messi’s path and how he battled through a series of struggles. From being rejected as an Argentinian after losing a World Cup final and back-to-back Copa América titles between 2014 and 2016 to returning to a road of redemption until winning it all in 2022.
(Photo by Federico Peretti/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
There was, therefore, a deep pain that impacted Leo throughout his career, and it wasn’t until he returned from his first retirement in August 2016, two months after losing the aforementioned Copa América Centenario to Chile, that his nation realized that what Messi needed was love and support.
“IF I GOT rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.”
Tennessee Williams’ saying encapsulates why Messi needed those moments of struggle and rejection in order for us to fully appreciate the light of his greatness.
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I think the answer is already here. From Lamine Yamal’s brilliance and Erling Haaland’s preponderance to Michael Olise’s dazzle and Jude Bellingham’s genius, the world’s game is in good hands. World-class talent, as I have alluded to, will come and go and we will see beautiful moments from many players for the next few decades.
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And if we feel like reliving it, we can always take a trip to Miami — at least in the near future.
But know this and remember it well. There will never exist another player like Lionel Messi because what he gave us wasn’t just about his own brilliant self. It was also about ourselves and how, for 90 minutes, a diminutive, introverted Argentinian from Rosario made us feel like giants.
(Photo by Marcelo MANERA / AFP via Getty Images)
