World Cup 2018: The albatross around Lionel Messi's neck
June 10, 2018 | Moscow, Russia
Argentina secured a spot in the 2018 World Cup in Russia via Quito, Ecuador. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick against the hosts Ecuador as they scraped through, by the skin of their teeth after massively under-performing throughout the qualification stage. The 3-1 victory was a heist, made possible by him alone. As the coach Jorge Sampaoli extolled -'Luckily, the nationality of the best player in the world is Argentinian.'
Geniuses invariably have a problem in managing expectations. Already the stakes are high. Argentina, the antipodean outpost in Pampas grasslands, having last won the World Cup in 1986, fuelled by Diego Maradona, crave a shot of glory. It has been a while, Leo was not even born then, and since, enough people have named their kid Leo.
Right now, Argentina has not yet fully recovered from a prolonged period of the double whammy of stagnated growth and high inflation. The country needs a booster shot of some positivity. A World Cup win in such a scenario will be just that; riding which, the country may find its feet again. It's a good story, if it unfolds. But then, even England desperately needs some good news after the fiasco of Brexit. Additionally, the English have had nothing to show for since the triumph of 1966. Therefore, the argument of - 'it's due big time', doesn't have much traction. Victories have been longer in the making with win-less streaks stretching over a few generations. Uruguay last won in 1950 for instance. Portugal never ever have.
There's also a narrative floating around that goes - If there's any justice in the world, Argentina should win the World Cup. No. It has to be won in an unfair world, against better teams. It has to be heroic. Forget not, that while football matches can be won by a moment of inspiration, it can also be lost by a sloppy pass. Football allows for individual brilliance to shine, while also being subject to abject team performances. This makes the World Cup a tournament that is annoyingly difficult to win. It is full of Shakespearean tragedies and Spielbergian dramedies.
Reverting to Leo, though. What's not to like about him? He's a talent that comes along maybe once in century, if we are lucky. Clearly we are. He's given the game so many moments of pure bliss with his other-worldly skill-set. Here's a player for whom skipping past half the opposing side, with the ball inexplicably welded to his left foot, is as natural as swimming is to fish and gliding is to eagles.
He's humble. Still supports his boyhood club - Newell's Old Boys of Santa Fe. He never dives, is a gentleman through and through, he married his childhood sweetheart from down the block, near his home in Rosario. He is a family man. He's gracious to his fans and loyal to both his club and country. People forget that he was pursued by Spain to play for them, having resided in Barcelona since he was 12. Can you imagine the 2008-2018 Spanish side with him in it? They'd have been scarily brilliant. But, he didn't. He knows the importance of football in the lives of an average Argentine. He still retains his Argentine accent while speaking Spanish. Yet, he has to be the next Maradona. And that is outrageously unfair. Maradona couldn't ever be Messi given the opportunity.
It also needs to be understood that things should not be binary. That only if he wins the World Cup is he the best ever, otherwise not. World Cups are not won by mob justice or emotions alone. Sometimes even divine intervention falls short. The Total Football of Netherlands in 1974 and 1978 didn't win. The great Brazilian side of 1982 didn't. Lesser teams have. It happens. He doesn't need the Cup to be the bonafide best player ever. He'd like to. A huge portion of footballing fraternity would prefer to. If he doesn't get it, he would still unofficially be the best ever.
If he had got more time to acclimatize with his Argentine mates they'd have a much better chance. Most of them don't play with him in Barcelona. But, if they assist him, if they finish the moves he starts, if they share the workload, if they don't depend on him too much, if they punch above their weights, it is possible. As you must have noticed, there are too many ifs for that probability to come alive. If anything, the Argentines are just dark horses, and without him, they'd be fragile underdogs.
Great players are also sometimes responsible for the gross domestic happiness of their countrymen. Lionel Messi certainly is. There's an indescribable high of witnessing your country win the World Cup of the most popular, most beautiful game in the world. They want that trophy maybe just as an affirmation.
Those moments of basking in reflected glory. Just to have that one memory to grow old with, deep into the 21st century, to recollect the halcyon days. He's a Messiah, but he's not the son of God. He can't call in a favor with his dad. He can only bamboozle the midfield tackles with his trademark nutmegs, pirouette around defences, take free kicks, bending it like Beckham, and blast penalties with the accuracy of a sniper, among other dribbling wizardry which can't even be categorized. But, far too often, it is a one-man show. He's a lonely renaissance artist on the field - great at everything. Leo has to almost paint the Sistine Chapel all by himself. Which is why, the Argentina he leads will be sentimental favourites of millions.
The doubters and the naysayers won't go away until he lifts the Coupe du Monde. No amount of El Clásico heroics will pacify them. There's just no way around the weight of bearing the cross. The cross of expectations. He gives hope, even against lengthening odds. As fans, we tend to hold on to even a tiny sliver of it. And it's that hope that kills.
His admirers will say that football owes it to Leo. No. No player is bigger than the game. Even perhaps the game's purest incarnation as a player. The world doesn't owe anybody anything, but it doesn't stop you from trying. And so, try he will, with the proverbial, metaphorical albatross still around him, hoping he gets a bit of fairy dust at the right time, a bit of luck in the right game. It remains to be seen if it results in a triumph or a quixotic mirage that is always teasingly out of reach. Whatever happens in Russia, irrespective of the outcome, Lionel Messi will remain one of the all-time greats. The best ever for many.
So let's savor the uninhibited joy of watching him. After all, Barcelona and Argentina, in time, will find a replacement striker. Football won't.