Lionel Messi, a born leader: the League 1 footballers who shared a locker room with the Argentine star

Countless times he was criticized for his lack of leadership. He countless times was criticized for not acting like a true captain. But the truth is that Leo Messi He always performed his role in the best possible way. The same companions of his were in charge of knocking down those questions against him. And now a video has come to light that shows that, in reality, the Argentine ’10’ is indeed a true leader.

In the framework of the start of World Cup Qatar 2022, Netflix will launch ‘Sean eternal: champions of America’, a documentary about the path that the Argentine team went through to win the 2021 Copa América in Brazil. By That, in the preview of its premiere, this streaming company shared a promotional advance that has Messi as the protagonist.

The crash of PSG He appears in the emotional video in a way he has never been seen before. ‘Leo’, as captain of his team, harangues his teammates in a unique way just a few minutes before playing the final against Brazil at the Maracana.

“There are no coincidences. You know what? This Cup had to be played in Argentina and God brought it here. God brought her here so that we can raise her up in the Maracana, boys, to make it more beautiful for everyone. So let’s go out confident and calm that we are going to take this one home “, Messi is heard saying amid so much emotion. And his companions responded with a war cry: “Let’s go!”

The rest is history. Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 with a great goal from Angelito Di María and Leo got rid of the thorn that had been stuck for so long, after winning the first title for his country. Almost a year later he would win the second (La Finalissima 2022) and now he is looking for the third in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where the ‘Albiceleste’ is the favorite.

This only reflects that Messi He has always had the qualities of a born leader. Many of his colleagues and former colleagues had already expressed it. And now that great virtue of the Argentine ’10’ has been 100% proven with the recent video that has come to light.

With regard to this, we evoke the memories of the Liga 1 footballers who, sooner or later, shared a dressing room with the Argentine star. A true privilege, obviously, that few can boast.

Gustavo Rhodes at Newell’s

Before leaving his mark on Peruvian football, Gustavo Rodas traced an important path in Argentina, which began in the lower categories of Newell’s Old Boys. He was the star of the 86′ category and behind him he had another child shining in a lower category: Lionel Messi (87′).

There are not a few who, at that time, considered that Rhodes was better than Messi. The club president himself believed so without much hesitation. ‘Billy’, as he was called, had already acquired more prestige as a promising leper, although later he never became as big as ‘Leo’ could.

Of course, both were able to share a locker room once in a while. Being so talented Messi many times he played with categories higher than his, so he coincided with Rodas more than once in the same team, which today is more valuable especially for ‘Billy’.

“I had the opportunity to play with Messi, he was a year younger than me but he made such a difference that they put him to play in the biggest category that was ours. He was from another planet, he is the best player in the world”told Rodas for the program ‘La fe de Cuto’.

“Yes, it was a saying of a president who ended up saying that he was staying with the best player (with Rodas after Messi left), but it is impossible that there is someone better than Messi. I think he said it out of a bit of anger because he was leaving for Barcelona.”he added.

Finally, Gustavo Rhodes he was stuck in this part of the world, playing for three Peruvian teams during his career (Bolognesi, León de Huánuco and César Vallejo). Leo, for his part, managed to be the best player on the planet (Barcelona and PSG), winning the Ballon d’Or seven times.

Peirone and Vitti in the Sub-20

In 2011, Hernán Peirone joined Alianza Lima as reinforcement. Although he never lived up to expectations, he had the backing that a few years earlier he had been a U-20 national team player for his country and that he played alongside none other than Leo Messi.

Together they were part of the Argentine squad that competed in the 2005 South American U-20. MessiOf course, he was the star of the team and Peirone was one of his partners in the attack. That time, the ‘Albiceleste’ finished in third place and ‘Leo’ was the second highest scorer in the tournament (5 goals), below the Colombian Hugo Rodallega (11 goals).

With that podium, the U-20 of Argentina was able to qualify for the World Cup of the category that same year. Although Peirone was no longer summoned for this important competition, Pablo Vitti -national champion with U. San Martín and former Universitario player- was taken into account while he was already taking his first steps with Rosario Central.

In fact, Vitti’s good performances with his team allowed him not only to enter the prestigious albiceleste squad, but also to start the tournament as a starter, leaving Messi on the substitute bench. “They remind me. They tell me as a joke. In that World Cup, Messi went to the bench and I was the starter”evoked the former soccer player a few years ago in dialogue with El Tiempo de San Juan.

With his enormous talent, Messi He quickly managed to beat Vitti, filled himself with goals on the field and thus gave his country the world title, being the top scorer (six goals) and the MVP of the tournament.

Buonanotte at the Olympics

Another of the greatest joys of Messi in the youth of Argentina it was the title won at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The ‘Albiceleste’ won the gold medal with figures such as Ángel di María, Sergio Agüero, Juan Román Riquelme, Javier Mascherano… and Diego Buonanotte, then a jewel from River Plate.

Who this 2022 acts as a reinforcement of Sporting Cristal had the consideration of Sergio Batista several years ago to play the Olympics. However, he only played one game in the group stage against Serbia, when Argentina’s qualification for the next round was already assured.

In that only opportunity he had, Buonanotte excelled with a free kick goal, making it 2-0 for his team’s victory against the Serbs. Unfortunately, that was not enough to add minutes in the following games, but he was also able to share the success with ‘Leo’ at the end of the championship.

In fact, Buonanotte came to be considered the “new Messi” at the time, but he could not live up to all the giant expectations that were placed on him. Of course, he established himself as an idol of the Catholic University of Chile with nine titles and this year he decided to venture into Sporting Cristal.

Denis, Barcos and Peruzzi in Qualifiers

Long before he became a hero of Universitario for saving the club from relegation with his goals, Germán Denis traced a successful path between Argentina and Italy. In fact, in 2007 he exploited his virtues as an Independiente player and that was enough for Alfio Basile to call him up for the first time in the Argentine national team.

Denis played three games in the 2010 South Africa Qualifiers together with Messi, one of them being the duel against Peru: the 1-1 in 2008, which is well remembered for an agonizing goal by Johan Fano after a wonderful gallop to the left by Juan Manuel Vargas . He also played two friendlies. This helped him make the leap to the Italian First Division, where he wore the shirt of Udinese, Napoli and Atalanta.

A few years later, in the next Qualifiers heading to Brazil 2014, one of Alianza Lima’s current leaders was called up to play alongside Lionel Messi: Hernán Barcos. The ‘Pirate’ had a good football moment at Palmeiras and that is why the then coach Alejandro Sabella decided to include him in his list.

Interestingly, Barcos appeared for the first time on the bench for Argentina in an official duel against Peru in 2012 (1-1 in Lima), although he was unable to add minutes. “I greeted Messi, but I hardly spoke to him. He seems like a very simple boy, beyond being the best player in the world. It is very nice to arrive at the Ezeiza venue and be able to tell your friends and family that you trained with the colors of your team and that you shared a practice session with these football phenomena”said Barcos in an interview with The nation of Argentina after his first call.

Then, the Alliance striker made his debut in a friendly against Brazil and managed to play in two qualifying matches against Uruguay and Chile, thus having the honor of being Messi’s teammate and sharing some special moments in the Argentine national team.

Along with ‘Pirata’, Gino Peruzzi – a key player for the Clausura 2022 title with Alianza Lima – was also called up by Sabella and also made his debut in the friendly against Brazil. The Argentine winger was able to play three qualifying duels with ‘Leo’ in the team, two of them heading to Brazil 2014 and the other to Russia 2018.

Gino, in fact, lived a very particular anecdote with ‘Leo’, which was told by Sebastián Domínguez, his then teammate in Vélez and the national team. “One day in the selection, I was with Gino and before going to sleep he asks me: ‘Che Seba, with the theme of the awards, how do I have to do?’ I said, ‘Didn’t you ever ask Leo? He handles them all.”recounted the defender on ESPN’s ’90 Minutes’ program.

Faced with the answer that he had never asked him, Domínguez went to Messi’s room to see what had happened to his partner’s prizes: “Leo, there Gino tells me that he never received prizes…”he commented. “Ah idiot, I couldn’t figure out who was the one I was missing, I made the list a thousand times. I have it here”replied the ‘Flea’, who then took an envelope out of the drawer of his bedside table so that they could give it to Gino.