*(2019)* Well, I guess Messi's career wasn't exactly winding down! Most great Footballers get old at around this age (Christiano Ronaldo at 33 in the same Cup... that was astonishing!), but I guess he just was a bit off. He faces so much pressure in the World Cup, and he wasn't getting great support from the rest of the team... and maybe he just trained his butt off after the Cup! (Or maybe he trained his butt off after missing those free kicks against Iceland... he and Di Maria can't do everything!) Anyway, it's still a great excuse to celebrate an incredible career! Go Barca! (and go Albiceleste... I can take the heartbreak- I'm a Sacramento Kings fan!)*
Well, it looks like it's finally happened. It's June 2018, right after the third day of the World Cup and that fateful Argentina Vs. Iceland game. Messi is 30, around the age where it usually happens. He's just come off a great 17-18 season with Barca, and we may still see some magic yet from him, but after watching that Iceland game it's clear: in the past three months, since the end of the last season at Barcelona (let alone the World Cup Qualifiers late last year) Messi's gotten old. And so I thought it was appropriate to do a tribute to his incredible career as it winds down.
Keep in mind there's no reason to believe it's all over. A lot of great atheletes when they start to slow down physically compensate mentally- Messi's mental game is only getting stronger as he continues to learn. But this would be a very hard time for him to compensate mentally. In the World Cup he faces pressure in a way he never does in Barcelona, and the 2018 Cup is the first serious competition for Argentina where he was no longer at his peak physically. Given a couple games to compensate and it'll be Magic again. Still, he's clearly slowed down from his prime, and I think this is a good time to do a tribute to his incredible career.
I won't try to describe what he does- it's better to see for yourself. Just YouTube 'Messi Highlights'. Oh, and just so you know what he's done for La Albiceleste, YouTube 'Messi World Cup Highlights 2014'.
Lionel Messi may be the greatest club player of all time. Along with Xavi and Iniesta the heart and soul of what is probably the greatest club team of all time. In 2009, when Eto'o was still there alongside Xavi, Iniesta and a very young Messi FC Barcelona had perhaps the greatest season in football club history. La Liga, Copa Del Rey, the European Club Championships, the Club World Cup, everything. In 2011, after Eto'o was gone but with Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in their prime they equaled their 2009 season. In 2015, with Xavi and Iniesta getting older but with a young Neymar joining them, they equalled their 2009 success again. Since Xavi retired in 2015 they have won La Liga twice and all three Copa Del Rey's, their 7th La Liga Championship, 6th Copa Del Rey and 4th double in 10 seasons since the 09 season. But what about the World Cup?
In my mind Messi's name is forever linked with Angel Di Maria. In 2010 Messi didn't have a good team around him and, after all, he was still only 22. In 2014 he was in his prime. And he had two things around him- a good defence and Angel Di Maria. Remember that in 1986 Diego Maradona had Two Di Maria's around him- Jorge Valdano and Jorge Buruchaga. Messi had only one. He and Di Maria pretty much Were the Offense on that team. And I imagine they were a big part of the Defense too- after all, they can't score if you have the ball. (Similarly, the Defense could gain posession and feed Messi the ball.) And Argentina had to play their two toughest opponents with Di Maria out hurt. Just Messi and a Defense. No more. Against powerful Holland in the Semifinals- and in the Finals against the highest ranked team of all time. They got past Holland. Didn't concede a goal in regulation against either- indeed in the entire Cup once they got out of the group stage- and I'm sure Messi was a big part of that. Without him, and Di Maria out hurt in those final two games, would they ever have had posession of the ball at all? And they almost won the Final in Regulation before loosing it by a goal in Overtime. The next two years they missed out on Championships in their next two international competitions- the regular American Cup and the Centennial American Cup- by Shootouts in the final games. Shootouts. You know how fluky single, brief events can be. More importantly they didn't lose either in regulation or in Overtime. Still, it was just a follow-up. that World Cup was Epic. It belonged to Germany- but it also belonged to Messi and Di Maria.
Thank you, Leo Messi. It's been wonderful.