There is no greater feeling in life than experiencing the purest example of beauty. It is, as Oscar Wilde once said, the one thing time cannot harm. It\u2019s an everlasting rainbow that never stops showing you its colors, and even when the actual act of witnessing something so gorgeous, so exquisite disappears \u2014 you still have the memory of it.<\/p>\n
Lionel Messi, wearing the Argentina shirt, driving towards goal with the exuberant explosion of a volcano, unbothered, unconcerned with anything or anyone who even attempts to stop him, is that pure example of beauty.<\/p>\n
Or how about his 125 goals for La Albiceleste? Each one is a seashell we pick up and carry forever. All of them came in different varieties and angles \u2014 111 with his best friend, his trusted left foot \u2014 and they delivered with danger and aggression, poetry and music but also with a certainty that only Messi possessed and defenders and goalkeepers feared.<\/p>\n
From his majestic drive against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2014 World Cup to my favorite, the piece of art against Nigeria in the 2018 edition. Nigerians will actually be glad to see the last of him, as they were one of his many, multiple, frequent victims.<\/p>\n
Messi and Argentina are over, but the memories of what was earned will forever remain.<\/p>\n
The achievements have been as remarkable as the highlights. Individual brilliance that made me think this tiny man surely can\u2019t be a real human. His ultimate prize?<\/p>\n
The World Cup in Qatar. It was achieved with guts.<\/p>\n
When he finally won the World Cup in 2022, it was a journey of redemption, but his calmness, as remembered by his teammates, never wavered. Even after the opening loss to Saudi Arabia. \u00c1ngel Di Mar\u00eda recalls thinking that his tranquility was so impactful, it made everyone else secure that this would be the tournament where they would become champions.<\/p>\n
Messi and Argentina are as symbiotic as bees carrying pollen from flowers in exchange for their nectar. It was a dance that wasn\u2019t always pretty \u2014 as we witnessed in this summer\u2019s final \u2014 but it was theirs. It was uniquely theirs. The relationship was also very dependent on him for a long time, but thanks to Lionel Scaloni\u2019s arrival, Argentina and Messi became more of a partnership, where Leo would eventually take them to promised lands. But the team was now also working alongside his genius, not just falling to it under his magical spell.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t always rosy, however.<\/p>\n
(Photo by Chengdu Economic Daily\/VCG via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n When he made his debut for the senior national team in 2005 at 18 years old, for example, Messi\u2019s story with Argentina actually started as a nightmare as he was sent off in less than two minutes in a friendly against Hungary. Messi drove towards goal with his quintessential steam-train engine tenacity, and the Hungarian defense was unable to stop him, so the only thing he could do was hold his shirt. Messi, to try and escape, hit him in the face by accident, and it would end up being one of the most frustrating red cards, especially because it was a young Messi simply demonstrating what he would do for the next two decades.<\/p>\n After being sent off, Messi returned to the dressing room and was distraught, inconsolable at realizing the tragic consequences of his actions. But what that teenage Messi didn\u2019t realize was that the Hungarian defender actually did him a favor, as that red card actually birthed a dragon \u2014 someone who realized at that moment his dribbling towards goal, his aggressive yet graceful dynamite runs would become iconic, and in that moment, he never lifted his arms again. He would just allow his granite-style composure to dismantle anything else in sight.<\/p>\n We also remember the struggles and the heartbreak after losing the Copa Am\u00e9rica finals to Chile, forcing him to announce an initial retirement in 2016. The country begged him not to. His people pleaded for his return, and after time, Messi did come back. The Copa Am\u00e9rica title in 2021 would catapult a sense of dominance for Argentina and, equally, Messi continued to understand not just who he was on the pitch, but who he was off it. And I think that\u2019s what made him a World Cup champion in Qatar.<\/p>\n (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA \/ AFP) (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n I think the tragic death of his father also became a factor. This is the man who gave Leo everything for him to be a professional. The path of Messi\u2019s career is next to the footprints of his father, and his passing deeply affected him. As someone who lost his father at a young age, and who also did everything for me to have a future, I can relate all too much, especially so, as let\u2019s not forget that Messi\u2019s immigrant story to Barcelona was thanks to the proverbial embrace, love, and direction from his father. For him not to be present at this summer\u2019s World Cup was a thorn too deep that ailed Messi\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n Playing for Argentina is just not the same without him around.<\/p>\n But this is an ode, not about loss, but gain, and so I want to make sure we all finish reading my humble tribute as a story of beauty, one that we all experienced for more than two decades. This is a love story of Lionel Messi, Argentina, and what he gave to the world, and if it has to come to an end, then so be it.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s all remember that the true meaning of this legacy is not that it happened, but that we were all here to witness it. And most notably, we will remember it forever.<\/p>\n Gracias, Leo. Gracias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BROWSE BY There is no greater feeling in life than experiencing the purest example of beauty. It is, as Oscar Wilde once said, the one thing time cannot harm. It\u2019s an everlasting rainbow that never stops showing you its colors, and even when the actual act of witnessing something so gorgeous, so exquisite disappears \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}