Buenos Aires – Argentine star Lionel Messi begins his journey towards achieving the biggest dream ever, facing Ecuador on Thursday in Buenos Aires, at the start of the South American qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
After a delay of more than six months due to the outbreak of the new Corona virus, the South American qualifiers begin Thursday to the first World Cup in the Middle East region, as Messi renews the dream of winning the biggest title for any player.
At the age of thirty-three, Messi’s coffers are not missing any title at the club level, after he crowned them all with his Barcelona team, and he won all possible personal awards, most notably the golden ball for the best player in the world six times (a record).
Messi repeated on many occasions that “the only dream I did not fulfill was to win the World Cup with the national team,” who lifted the most expensive trophy for the second and last time in 1986 in Mexico, led by legend Diego Maradona.
The dream was very close in the World Cup in Brazil 2014, but Mario Gotze snatched him from Messi and his companions by scoring the winning goal for Germany in the final match.
When Messi arrives in Qatar two years from now, he will be thirty-five years old, which makes the 2022 World Cup probably his last chance to try to achieve the dream.
After a convulsive summer and his failed attempt to break free from his contract with Barcelona due to his disagreements with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Messi hopes that the start of the qualifiers for Qatar 2022 will form a breath of fresh air with a different flavor than what happened at the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, when Argentina lost at the “Monumental Stadium.” The legendary club in Buenos Aires against Ecuador in the very same 0-2 in October 2015.
Argentina needed Messi’s magic to ensure their qualification for Russia 2018, by winning the last round of qualifiers over Ecuador 3-1 in Quito thanks to a hat-trick by Barcelona, ending the “CONMEBOL” group in third place behind rivals Brazil and Uruguay and ahead of Colombia.
For its first qualifying match on its home soil, Argentina must adapt to a new reality, which is the absence of its loud and eager crowd since matches are held, at least for the time being, behind closed doors due to the repercussions of the new Corona virus.
Playing at Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera has always been a nightmare for visiting teams because of the majestic atmosphere, but the absence of the crowd will lose Messi and his comrades a basic weapon in the face of their Ecuadorean host.
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