Let’s enjoy Messi who is leaving us: a piece of advice

Shortly before the 1986 Mexico World Cup, César Luis Menotti was asked if it would be the consecration tournament for Diego Armando Maradona and El Flaco, with that ease of his to issue stoning sentences, attacked: “It seems difficult to me…. If we go from a technical point of view, Diego has been stagnant since 1984, since he was injured in Barcelona. And as a guy, well, now he gets curls, he put on an earring. Anyway, he’s a kite, isn’t he? A month later, Víctor Hugo Morales would call him a kite again, but within the poetics of the story of the most fantastic goal in history. Maradona was, from then on and forever, a cosmic kite. Diego had to win a World Cup so that nobody disputes what seemed indisputable. With Lionel Messi it seems that not even this will prevent him from continuing to question his sovereignty.

If before he was compared to Cristiano Ronaldo, today Kylian Mbappé is mentioned. And tomorrow, rest assured, another will appear. Going to statistics is not enough as an argument either. He has won everything with Barcelona, ​​he is an Olympic and South American champion. There is no Argentine who has played more World Cups (5) or scored more goals (11). Nor is there a mortal that he has so many ballons d’or (7). A few days ago, Lionel Scaloni said that he was the best in history and almost immediately, as in one of those fierce Otamendi crosses, Ángel Cappa jumped at his jugular and accused him of having “limited vision” because although he was the best of this generation, he is behind Di Stefano, Pelé, Cruyff and Maradona. Even if there were indicators whose scientific precision would allow establishing a classification of who is the best, dissonant opinions would never be silenced (the ‘Fifa ranking’ is a sample).

Football folklore thrives on passionate discussion, almost always irrational and contradictory. There is, as is to be expected, everything, from those capable of pointing out with the forcefulness of a convert that the Rosario is an “invention of the media” or those who enjoy frolicking in ridicule, like the Madridistas from ‘El Chiringuito’. Instead of getting caught up in these toxic discussions, let’s do something more sane and simple: enjoy Messi. A few days ago, “The Athletic” wondered how a 35-year-old man, 72 kilos and just 1.69m tall. tall, he was able to plunge into insignificance Gvardiol, the Croatian defender 15 years younger, 16 centimeters taller and seven kilos heavier. In reality, the answer is only one, although it does not resist logic: Messi is pure magic. Nothing more. And, in case some have forgotten, he is leaving us soon. Against France it will be his last great recital. Although he looks wiser and more decisive, the years do not forgive and from now on we will only see him in patches, giving away assists and goals with the PSG shirt or that of an American club where, it seems, he will seek a comfortable retirement. Forget the debates and enjoy. Not waste time. Living through this time has been a privilege. Thanks for that, Lionel.