Watching Lionel Messi has been a privilege for a very long time. His highlight reels on YouTube are a pain reliever on most days, like hot soup for a tired mind and body.
Even by his own ridiculous standards, Qatar 2022 is helping to reframe his legacy. At some level, the organisers needed a Messi-like figure to shift the focus from the politics and the scandals plaguing the event during the build-up. The 35-year-old genius has delivered.
He has delivered it not just by winding back the clock but by performing at a level befitting of Gods. In the process, he has also lifted Argentina a country going through an economic crisis where inflation is expected to hit 100% by the end of the month to a second World Cup final in three editions. What he’s doing is not normal, like on Tuesday against Croatia.
He has scored five goals but two of his biggest moments have been two assists including the one against Croatia when he outfoxed young and promising defender Josko Gvardiol. At some level, this is all very poetic.
Messi and his people didn’t have the greatest of relationships for a long time he had even been accused of not singing the national anthem but something changed.
First, his leadership of the team. His teammates aren’t just in awe of him but they clearly care for him and want to send him off with the World Cup. Next, his relationship with the Argentine public. He delivered them the Copa title in 2021, their first senior trophy in 28 years. They saw what it meant to him.
That defeat against Saudi Arabia threatened to crush this facade. But the house that Messi & Co have built wasn’t made of cards. It was made of dreams, hard work and years of trust. They are 90 minutes away from realising it.