There must be something in the water. In the air. Somewhere. For some reason, those players that stand out form the elite, the crème de la crème, are born in South América. Diego Armando Maradona and Pelé were fighting the never-ending battle to rise as the best player in history. But a year after the coronation of el Diego in Mexico, a new candidate was born.

It is useless to speak about Lio Messi’s achievements. He won everything with Barcelona. He broke all the records. His football skills are something beyond human possibilities. “I am the best player of this world -once said Zlatan Ibrahimovich-, because Lio [Messi] is from another planet”. “For Messi, the ball is just another bone from his body”, in Argentinian writer Alejandro Apo’s opinion. For the generation born after 1986, he is without any doubt, the best layer they have seen. But life always has a damnation reserved for everyone of us. And for Messi, this seems to be the world cup.

His first call was in 2006, under Jose's Pekerman leading and with Juan Román Riquelme as the brain commanding from the field. With 19 years old, he only played from the beginning against the Netherlands in the last match of the first phase, with both teams already qualified for the next stance. He was supposed to be the third substitution in the match against Germany in the quarter-finals, but the injury of Argentina’s goalkeeper denied him the chance. Argentina lost that day in the penalty shootout, and there is not a single Argentinian that still wonder what would have happened if he had jumped into the field instead of Julio Cruz, Internazionale Milano’s striker.

After elimination in 2006

The next world cup was a weird one. With Diego Armando Maradona in the bench and Messi in the field, the legendary combination seemed a strong alliance. But Argentina had a hard road to the cup, classifying in the penultimate match against Peru. In the World Cup, however, Argentina showed its history. Not many troubles to make it to the quarter-finals, where Germany crushed Lio Messi’s dreams.

Brazil arrived, and this could be epic. Argentina’s historic rival as the home team. Wining the cup in the Maracaná would turn Messi into a god. Argentina did a good cup. Not a single sweat drop in the first phase. A difficult match against Switzerland ended up with an explosion of joy when Angel Di María scored in the last minute, after -of course- Lio’s pass (we strongly recommend watching the Youtube video called “Gol de Di María a Suiza. Grita Buenos Aires”). Belgium was no trouble, but the Netherlands, led by Arjen Robben, gave a good fight. After the tie, Chiquito Romero showed his skills as a goalkeeper, and Argentina made it to the finales, to face his executioner, Germany.

The final was a really closed match. Argentina had some good opportunities in the feet of Higuain, Palacio and Messi. Germany only shot twice with danger: one score was enough. Messi’s shot would have closed the match, since Götze scored in the extra time. You can hear him in the interviews: “I did not hit it very well”. Just watch the shot after listening to his opinion. Every mortal that walks this land will see a good shot, and bad luck. They say that Eskimos can distinguish over 30 types of white, it seems that Messi can distinguish more than 30 types of different shots (with each technique).

Argentina arrives to this world cup behind Germany and Brazil in the bets. The classification was difficult. Argentina changed its coach three times. Messi was suspended after insulting the lineman against Bolivia. Panic spread in Argentina, and even after the suspension was reduced, Argentina could not find the good functioning that would allow the qualification to the FIFA World Cup. The last match of the qualifiers faced Argentina with Ecuador in the heights of Quito: a victory would be enough. Everything seemed lost when Ecuador scored after a few seconds! Great men appear in difficult times, and Messi rose like a Spartan. Three goals by el Diez and Argentina was once again alive.

Messi scoring against Ecuador

What does that leave us for this World Cup? Argentina’s group should pose no trouble. Croatia has some interesting players, but Nigeria (a team that lost every match with Argentina since 1994) and Iceland are weaker teams. Like France, Germany or Brazil, we should expect to find Argentina in the quarter-finals, after facing the team that ends up second in group C (if Argentina ends up first, of course). From quarter-finals to the final, three games that will face powerful teams. Spain or Portugal? Germany in the semi-finals? Brazil maybe in the finals (what an epic battle that would be)? Argentina’s collective functioning is not at its best. But there’s one thing everybody knows. If Messi is in a good level, nobody can stop him. At 31 years old, Football will give him another chance. And he has all the merits to take it.

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