Over the years, you look at the players that’ve come and gone, those that
gave you joy and arrogance. You look back and think how it was only like
yesterday, they put on their retro-looking jersey for the very first time and
stormed the field like wildfire. And for the majority of those players, the
ending creeped up over us like a scavenger on a hunt without us even realising
it. So let’s take a moment to study the current facts.
When Leo lost the World Cup back in Brazil,
following a miserable season and the passing away of Tito Vilanova, we might’ve
thought that it couldn’t have gotten worse for La Pulga. But then add
a third and a fourth attempt to ultimately fail in the Copa America final and a
choice to quit the national team, even leaving aside the utter collapse of the
AFA, and the world turns its concern to Messi.
Now– it’s easier to grasp this, understand it, even sympathise with it, than
to experience it. Messi was never a man of rash reaction. Quitting the national
team was Leo acknowledging that this is the end of his legacy for his country –
four finals and no gold. In that moment of depression, a man who had given
everything he could for his country just gave up. This isn’t the story of the
man who almost made it, this is the story of the established número
uno who gave up on trying.
I can fully understand the pain of losing when you’ve been so close this
many times. However, to let it decide your legacy when your legs haven’t given
up is beyond the ache of failure. totalBarça colleague Savvas Marcou spoke of
how the end of Messi’s Argentina career was down to the fact that he lost the
joy of playing with the national team. That’s a fair statement, but that only
adds to the pressure in Barcelona.
Barcelona’s the city that owns the legacy of Lionel Messi and, for now, no
one can take that away from him. Barcelona’s his kingdom as he reigns from his
house in Castelldefels. All worship and love him, no matter the circumstances.
Heck, they would build him a statue over the Tibidabo resembling Rio’s “The
Redeemer” if they didn’t mind the resentment. He’s been in the city for the
majority of his life, but as one of his stories comes to an finish, people
start to wonder about a second ending.
A few days ago, Messi’s misery on the pitch was met with a PR crash off the
pitch when he was sentenced to a suspended 21 months in jail after he was found
guilty for tax fraud, after being already linked to the Panama Papers only
a couple of months before. This altered many people’s perception of the
five-time Ballon d’Or winner, a man who has fought to keep his private life
away from the media as possible. So while that obviously was yet another blow
for Leo, with a Copa America hangover already on his mind, Leo was suddenly
victimised brutally.
And in such moment of crisis, the club did the only thing they’ve ever done
when it came to matters concerning the finest footballer on the globe
– they stuck by their man.
In doing so however, they’ve shot themselves in the foot when they launched
a campaign with the hashtag #WeAreAllLionelMessi horrifically backfired. They
thought that they could get people taking photos or sending a message with both
hands open to hold up a multi-million euro scandal and mask a tax fraud case?
It’s insane.
Not only is it ethically questionable to support a criminal case, but
doesn’t even make sense from a PR perspective. In doing so, they’ve only got
people to talk about the case even more, which is exactly what they don’t want.
It was clearly a miscalculated slip, but the reasoning behind it was my
concern.
FC Barcelona is a big club, a stunt like this is suicidal and it has
backfired indubitably. So let’s trail the thought process. A convicted player
as the star of your club doesn’t necessarily bode well to an already fragile
image of Barça. To support his claim in a statement shows that the club will
side with the player regardless of the court’s order. This could’ve been done
subtly with a club statement yet the club has purposely thought out a utterly
horrible campaign plan. This it begs the question – why go so far to change
people’s perspective of him?
The outcomes were at best for everyone to buy into it ridiculously and show
support, which obviously didn’t happen. At worst, still prove to Lionel Messi
that this club is with him through thick and thin, even if it has to stab
itself in the heart so thoroughly. That’s how desperate the club was to show
affection to Leo.
Now, with all these facts in mind we come to ask ourselves – why so
desperate? Could it be because Leo’s sorrows have gone deeper than we realise?
Could it be that perhaps Leo has begun to become disinterested in the sport
itself? Even if we’re talking only marginally, does this indicator his upcoming
“end of joy” in football?
As a writer, I’ve learned not to make the mistake of trying to predict the
future. However at the age of 29, Lionel Messi is about to play his final
season before crossing the age of 30. Players constantly get questioned over their
consistency once they cross the age of 30, with Luis Suárez the first of the
MSN set to experience this come his birthday next January. Both spectacular and
quality players that will for sure beat the myth of age and play wonderfully to
prove it. The signs however are pushing towards a final chapter for Messi in
Barcelona, whether that be in three or four years.
I’m not here to debate whether he’ll rejoin the national team in 2018, but
more about how somehow Leo must find his joy for football once again when the
season kicks off and he probably will. Leo could come out of this misery either
stronger and hungrier or disinterested and lost. At this point, Messi must
discover for himself whether he can overcome the public’s perception
of him on and off the field and let it drive him like his eternal rival, or
succumb to the hangover of these dark times rather than coming back
stronger from it.
One thing, however, always pushed Messi to persevere and come back from
tough times – his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo. Whether he admits it or not,
Messi has been driven by the Portuguese as much it has been the other way
around. Their numbers, fan bases, records, and accolades keep pushing the two
to win more. So in a season where his adversary won the Champions League with
his club and the Euro Cup with his nation, Messi finds himself in a position
where he must re-spark that rivalry in what could be the the very last couple
of seasons and battles between the fantastic duo, as Ronaldo looks likely to
collect his fourth Ballon d’Or in January already – with just a dash of PR work
needed to wrap it all up.
Ronaldo is 31 and two can still go head-to-head for long, however, we must
acknowledge that the two are past their prime even though they still
arguably are the two best current players in the world. And the facts are, both
of these players’ contracts finish by the summer of 2018. Both players can
leave their respective clubs being eternal legends and top scorers. The
Portuguese will be 33 and the Argentine will be 31 – perfect stages to leave
their respective clubs and move on to their final chapters of their careers –
be it a former club or final sellout. And awaiting either renew their contract,
that is the reality we face for football’s greatest rivalry ever.
The only question that remains is, who will have the final laugh?
Who knows? Maybe Messi will come back for Argentina in Russia and give one
last go at his dream. Maybe not. Maybe Leo renews his contract despite all the
off-field chaos going with his case. Or maybe not.
The only thing that matters however, if this is indeed La
Pulga‘s final chapter with Barça and Spain, I can but only wish that this
special man finds his joy once more for the gorgeous game. Be it through a
rivalry or another storm of accolades, Messi will want nothing more than to
finish his career in Barça on an absolute high. At least that’s the Messi I’ve
watched over the years and got to know and understand, not the one I can’t
possibly relate to at this moment.