Lionel Messi doesn’t need any introduction. He is simply a phenomenon! This little genius is arguably one of the greatest footballers ever to have played this beautiful game (if not the greatest). Born in Rosario, Argentina he shifted to Spain in 2001 to join the Barcelona Youth Academy. He shot into fame from 2005 when he was only 17, the time he started becoming a regular in the super strong Barca starting line-up. I have started following his career ever since.
My all-time favourite has always been a chap by the name of Diego Armando Maradona who according to me is the “Football God”. However, Messi comes a close second in my all-time favourite list. The reason partly stems from the fact that I have been a diehard fan of the Argentina football squad ever since Maradona’s unforgettable exploits in 1986. Just to put things into perspective, I might even support the Argentina football team in case they play against the Indian Cricket team (albeit in a fantasy world!). The other reason for being a Messi fan is his incredible footballing skills which according to me can be matched only by the Football God. His speed, stamina, creativity, ability to surpass the best of the defenders and incredible scoring abilities have always left me and millions across the globe awestruck. His performances for his club Barcelona and Argentina have been simply scintillating. Even his diehard critics couldn’t help but applaud a few of those performances. This has made him arguably the biggest star of this sporting generation. However, in spite of all the stardom, he has always remained humble both on and off the field, displaying the qualities of a good human being.
Needless to say that there have been multiple Messi moments for me during the last decade or so. Choosing one among those is a herculean task to say the least. Those blistering runs, beating defenders with pace, creativities with surgeon like precisions and the breath taking goals with his trademark left foot makes it too difficult to choose one among the many moments. We all were waiting eagerly for the 2014 World Cup final where courtesy a Higuaín jolly miss, Messi was deprived of his and our biggest moment, something that couldn’t have been surpassed by any imagination!
One moment which I fondly remember is during the 2014 World Cup during Argentina’s group match against Iran. This was a world cup where all the Messi and Argentina fans were eagerly waiting for. Reasons for the same was twofold. One, that Messi hadn’t won any World cups whereas as an individual he has deserved it the most. Second, Argentina hadn’t won a major trophy since the 1993 Copa America. Argentina had won their first league match against Bosnia where they found the net twice, one through a Bosnia own goal and the second with the genius’s trademark left foot. All Argentine fans were full of optimism as a winning start was made and equally importantly, the genius had scored.
Argentina raided the Iranian goal with barrage of attacks from the likes of Messi, De Maria, Aguero and Higuain. However, frustratingly for all of us they just couldn’t score. The primary reason for failed attempts was the incredible defending by the Iranian defenders cutting down spaces for the Argentine forward line. Other than the goalkeeper, all other 10 Iranian players dug deep into their halves to thwart the famed Argentine attack. It was simply a lion hearted defending by the Asian giants. Argentina continued to fail from scoring till the closing stages of the game. We were simply getting frustrated. With full respect to Iran, how could the giants of World football not win against the perceived minnows ! We almost resigned to the fact that an additional point (and not 3) will be gathered by Messi and his team in spite of having almost 70 percent of possession! But this was more about pride. Just when we were almost winding up during the midnight hours in India, in came the moment during injury time!
The master takes up possession 30 yards out on the right wing, level with the right-hand post. We took a deep breath still in anticipation. He takes a step forward, and a touch inside, then curls a stunning shot into the top-left corner! Unstoppable! Poor Iranian goalkeeper who was incredible throughout the match had no chance! It was simply mesmerising. Deft footwork, great exploitation of available space and an unforgettable curve with precision. The mark of a genius! But as their coach Alejandro Sabella said “When you have Messi, anything is possible.” Looking at the replays time and again, it was impossible to stop this effort. The angle and the curve was so perfect. Added to the fact was the entire Iranian team were defending inside their own box. The best attack in the competition failed to breach the Iranian fort until the end of regulation time. That is when the golden left foot intervened giving us that moment of joy which can never be forgotten.
A draw against Iran would have been embarrassing for Argentina. The football God Maradona described this Messi moment as a “divine intervention”. This tribute by the maestro said it all!
Watch the moment:
Messi is Messi!! My all time fav footballer – I am not a avid follower of the game but when this guy plays it’s soemthing else – i would love to read about other such instances of how great the little guy is 😍😍…and yes tell us if given a chance who would all would be a part of your fantasy football team?? Till then happy blogging….
Thanks so much for the compliments ! One of us will soon blog on our fantasy football teams