Messi on Netflix: from silent star to leader who launches harangues that give goosebumps

Three episodes, a harangue and a title. But not just any harangue and not just any title. In July 2021, Messi, who had just lost six consecutive finals, spoke in the locker room of the Argentina team before setting foot in the legendary Maracana to play in the Copa América final.

Instead of giving an easy ‘come on, fuck’ or something like that, he gave an emotional speech that turned his team into a pack. He thanked them, remarked that they had not seen their family for 45 days, that some had become parents and had not even carried their children and that all this sacrifice would make sense if that day they dethroned the Brazilians in their own home.

We know what happened next: Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 with a goal from Di María and Lionel Messi knelt after the final whistle to be hugged by all his teammates. Those to whom Messi gave them the confidence to “remove him from the poster” and build a memorable feat together.

It had been 28 years since the Argentine national team won anything at the international level. Messi ended that curse. Not only with what he did on the field, but with what we have just been able to observe, thanks to “Be eternal: champions of America”, the Netflix documentary series that captured the intimacy of that campaign, and which premiered yesterday.

The warning for Argentines and soccer lovers is that if they are anxious, do not watch it. Three weeks before Qatar 2022 it is a complex decision. There is a success that has not surrounded them since Korea-Japan 2002, when they were overwhelming in the Qualifiers and then succumbed in the group stage.

For those of us who do not have to solve these dilemmas, it is nice to see Messi playing the role for which he was always riddled. Compared ad nauseam to Maradona, a rebel leader with a tendency to fuss, Messi has shown in his own way that the film belongs to him. He even looks happy.

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