GALLERY: See the evolution of Lionel Messi
For all his achievements both individually and as part of a phenomenally-successful Barcelona team, Lionel Messi has had to work hard at winning over the Argentina fans. Never mind the fact they were blessed at having the greatest footballer of a generation, perhaps of all time, Messi had always been cast as an outsider.
Not a boy from humble beginnings in Rosario who bravely left the country at the age of 13 to succeed in Europe at one of the world’s biggest clubs, but a footballer who is a product of a foreign land.
Not like Diego Maradona, Mario Kempes or Daniel Passarella, legends of Argentinian football who paid their dues in their home country before seeking fame and fortune across the Atlantic. Then there was his indifferent form for Argentina.
After making his debut in 2005 he scored 15 goals in 56 games up to the end of 2010, very un-Messi-like numbers. At Barcelona he was already a four-time La Liga champion, two-time Champions League winner and was about to land the second of his four Ballon d’Ors.
Resentment grew in his home country that he perhaps didn’t care as much for Argentina: He doesn’t sing the national anthem, he doesn’t show enough passion, he doesn’t look right in the shirt. But since the appointment of head coach Alejandro Sabella in August 2011, Messi has worked his way into their affections.
Appointed captain, he was no longer able to hide, he had to match the responsibility with performances. Within 10 months he had claimed a hat-trick against Brazil in a friendly in New Jersey, among the 21 in 25 matches he has scored under Sabella.
It’s nowhere near Maradona-levels of adoration, but that could change dramatically should Messi lead Argentina to glory in Brazil.
“I have a responsibility to the Argentina fans to make sure I do everything I can to bring them success. I want success as much as any fan. I would do anything to win a World Cup – so every fan can be guaranteed I will do everything I can to try to make it happen,” he tells Sport360°.
Maradona backs Messi to star at the World Cup in Brazil
Messi’s growing influence within the Argentine team, and his already considerable lofty status within the game, means expectation for this squad is perhaps greater than any other World Cup since 1986.
There is also the discussion of his own legacy. That Messi cannot truly be considered among the gods of the game until he has defined a World Cup, like Maradona in ‘86.
“I am used to expectation – and that is something that is fine,” he adds. “Obviously it does not get any bigger than the World Cup – but I will approach it as I do all games and that is to have fun playing.
“I still have the same joy playing the game as I did when I was 13 or 14 – and even though we are talking about the biggest football competition in the world – it is important to approach games with that mentality of having fun and loving what you do.
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“Every Argentinian boy grew up seeing highlights of Maradona. He has said some very nice things about me – but until I win a World Cup it is not right for me to be compared with him.”
As a collective, Argentina have disappointed at every World Cup since reaching the final in 1990. Teams compromising Gabriel Batistuta, Fernando Redondo, Juan Veron, Juan Roman Riquelme, Javier Zanetti and Roberto Ayala have come and gone. Each different side seemingly capable of success, only to go no further than the quarter-finals.
For Messi, it’s not a question of ability, but a lack of mental fortitude that, while the world may back them, the players themselves don’t have the confidence or conviction.
“We just need to have the belief. Anybody that looks at our squad and the players we have can see the ability is there – we just have to believe for success in Brazil,” he adds.
Lionel Messi ready to win the World Cup with Argentina
“I think we have that belief going into the tournament – there is an optimistic feel among this squad this time that we can do well. We have to perform at our best. There are so many great nations out there at the moment – that if you face any of them and you are not playing at the top level you are going to find it very hard to beat them.”
Unlike in 2010, when Messi was coming into the World Cup off the back of a 47-goal season for Barcelona, which earned him La Liga’s player of the year, the 2013-14 campaign has been one of the most difficult of his career.
The goals have been there – 41 in 46 – but he has looked distant in a Barca shirt. Unable to exert the same influence over games, the club went trophy-less and a sulking Messi reduced, at times, to a troubling irrelevance.
Messi, though, is not one to look back and dwell on failure, especially with such a considerable prize at stake.
“At Barcelona it was disappointing to not win things this season because that is what this great club has become used to. I never look back in football. When I have successful seasons I never look back and the same when they are not so successful,” he says.
“Every season is a new chapter – and the aims will be the same for Barcelona next season – and that is to win every trophy that we enter. The focus now is on Argentina and nothing else – you only get the chance to play in a World Cup every four years – so it is where my mind is.”
Although his acquired Catalan-roots may be scorned in Argentina, the benefits of being around Spain’s most successful players of all time could be infectious.
Messi has witnessed first hand what winning the World Cup has meant to Gerard Pique, Pedro, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets, David Villa, Victor Valdes and Cesc Fabregas, giving him an insight into the mental hurdles Argentina must overcome.
“Spain had big problems reaching anything past the quarter finals, and since they won the 2008 European Championship you have seen the belief to match their ability,” he says. “All my Spanish team-mates at Barcelona talk about what it is like to win a World Cup – but I know it is a feeling you will never understand until it happens to you.”
