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Argentina and Lionel Messi: it hasn’t always been a great love. But in 2021 they won the Copa America together.
Martin ArnFootball reporter
Lionel Messi’s youth coach Ernesto Veccio († 65) has tears in his eyes when Blick visits him shortly before his death in Rosario. He smokes unfiltered cigarettes. He collects fags through his workshop: “I’ve never trained someone like him. There was nothing I could have taught him. Messi is Picasso, he’s Mozart. Messi is a genius.”
You have seen many strokes of genius from Messi over the years. He once played with half of the Getafe team. In 2012, Messi scored 91 goals in one calendar year. A record for eternity. He has been voted world player of the year seven times.
“Maybe,” speculated Argentina’s 1986 world champion Jorge Valdano after Argentina’s 3-0 semi-final victory against Croatia on Tuesday, “we are seeing the best Messi right now.”
Before the 3-0, Messi danced the tango with his opponent Josko Gvardiol until the best defender of the tournament was dizzy. Messi deceives, deceives, stumbles. But the ball sticks to your shoelaces. And when he finally passes him in the centre, striker Julian Alvarez just has to put his foot down.
the magic flea summons: Lionel Messi’s dream solo before 3-0(00:30)
Maybe at some point after his career Lionel Messi will talk about how great the pressure has been on him in this World Cup in the desert. Argentina went 36 matches undefeated before the tournament. Last year, the gauchos won the Copa America.
“Messi will never be Maradona”
Then came November 22 and the first group match of the World Cup against Saudi Arabia. Messi scores the lead after ten minutes. But as the Argentine likes to be arrogant, order in coach Lionel Scaloni’s squad was completely lost after the break. The Saudis turn the game around. “We don’t believe it,” writes the Argentine sports newspaper Olé with horror. On the front page Messi, who comes out of the square with his head bowed. “Messi will never be Maradona,” Argentine journalists scoffed.
It is the eternal confrontation. Messi or Maradona? When Maradona died a year ago, flags across the country were lowered to half staff. There were three days of national mourning.
Everything was called into question in Argentina after the first defeat against Saudi Arabia. Tactics of coach Scaloni and in any case Messi. “We have played in five finals since the defeat against Saudi Arabia. We all won. I hope it continues like this.”
How many times have you accused Lionel Messi at home of not being a true Argentine because he went to Barcelona when he was 14. Because he hadn’t won a title with Argentina until a year ago. Because he lacks passion, the «viveza criolla», that cunning of the Argentines when they fool each other with a wink.
Maradona scored a goal with his hand, hit opponents with a kung fu punch and said after a positive drug test at the 1994 World Cup: “My legs were cut off.” Maradona was drama and big words.
Messi’s voice trembled as he delivered his first speech in the dressing room as Argentina captain.
In 2016 it was said in Argentina: “Messi is not one of us”
Argentine footballers have always stood out for their technique and unconditional desire to win, even when it was incorrect. Messi is different. He didn’t learn to play football on the dusty and bumpy fields of Argentina’s slums, but at the Barcelona Academy.
“He’s not one of us,” was the verdict as Messi’s Argentines lost to Chile on penalties in the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final. Messi later resigned from the national team.
Everything is different in Qatar. Messi leads his team. He has scored five goals so far. And by the way he proved that he can also be really bilious. In a very emotional match against the Netherlands, Messi got carried away with verbal failures against the Dutch coach Louis van Gaal and Wout Weghorst (“What are you looking at, idiot?”). In Argentina, people like this meanness. And with his five goals at the age of 35 he still won the hearts of the Argentines who traveled with him.
Messi to the Orange Star: “What are you looking at, idiot, get out!”(01:03)
Chaos and crime reign in the house
50,000 fans accompany the selection in Qatar. In reality there are few people among the 45 million Argentines who can afford to travel to the East. The vast majority, however, live in precarious conditions. Many parents cannot afford the money for the school bus. Inflation will be close to 100% by the end of the year. The average income is 650 francs.
In Rosario, where Messi grew up, drug gangs have taken over entire neighborhoods. After dark it is allowed to cross the intersection on red because it has become too dangerous to stop.
When a few days ago in the southeast of Rosarios Miguel Roulin was shot ten times in front of his house, the police inspector advised the public prosecutor not to go to the scene of the crime. Their safety cannot be guaranteed. There have already been 265 homicides in Rosario this year.
“Messi is the only hope we have left”An Argentine worker unemployed on the magic flea
Lionel Messi married his childhood sweetheart Antonella not far from the crime scene. An Israeli security firm ensured the safety of the guests.
Ten days ago, a court sentenced former president Cristina Kirchner to six years in prison for having enriched herself by winning public contracts.
The incumbent president, Alberto Fernandez, a professor at the Faculty of Law in Buenos Aires, does not speak a word of English and is considered the weakest head of state since the return to democracy in October 1983. During his three-year term, prices are climb to the stars. There are half a dozen exchange rates in the country because nobody wants worthless pesos.
40 percent of the population lives below the subsistence level.
‘Only Messi can save this country’
The only thing that still holds the nation together on the Rio de la Plata is football and the prospect of a third world title. “Messi is the only hope we have left,” unemployed worker Angel Bravo said on state television the evening after the 3-0 victory over Croatia, as tens of thousands celebrated in the streets of Buenos Aires. Angel Bravo lost his job just before the World Cup because nobody wanted to invest in the struggling industry. “Only Messi can save this country.” Probably a bit too much to expect from a 35 year old man who is not 1.70m tall.
Even if Messi wins Argentina’s third world title and thus goes down in history as the greatest footballer, there is little that can be done to help the country. Especially not with a 36.8cm trophy.
Martin Arn worked as a correspondent in Buenos Aires and Rosario for six years.
This anthem has it all: Argentines insult the British and mock the Brazilians(00:34)
