With a free role, the No 10 has been the floating brain of his country’s side at this year’s World CupThe thing that made the goal was the touch; one of those touches where Lionel Messi doesn’t so much trap the ball or kill it but lets it come and nestle, falling asleep on his toe like a fond old cat.There were still six more touches to go before the ball would be left spinning, with a kind of purr, in the back of Mat Ryan’s net. But it was the touch that set the clock running, as the ball was looped back out to Messi on the touchline from his own free-kick. Continue reading...
Argentina’s captain and maestro was never going to give up the dream of winning his final World Cup lightlyListen, mortals, the sacred cry. Freedom, freedom, freedom. Suddenly, there it was, there he was, and it was all let out. In a moment, a flash of that left boot Lionel Messi was liberated and so were they, released with a single shot. All around this place, thousands of Argentinians absolutely lost it. Below them, so did Argentina’s captain, clinging hard to his last chance. He wasn’t going to let this end yet. Not just this game, not just this World Cup, but all of it.It was too early for that, even as it started to feel late at Lusail, time slipping...
There is time for Messi and Argentina to save their World Cup campaign, however, despite a shock defeat by Saudi ArabiaThere was more time. When you are Lionel Messi, there is always more time. Another split-second to play the pass. Another couple of beats to wait for the space to open up. Another year to mount a challenge. Another World Cup to fight. And here, on a bright warm day in November, with the clocks striking 13 minutes of injury time, there were still a few more seconds for Argentina to make things right.Messi advanced down the right channel, nudging the ball along with impatient taps of his left outstep. A little space had opened up in front of him...
Lionel Messi leading Argentina to glory would be a moment of sporting beauty but still a sportswashing win for QatarBuenos Aires has a new Diego Maradona mural for the World Cup. It looks great, although the vast, Stalinist-scale Diego head selected by the artist is not the obvious version from 1986, when the quality of the light, the white noise in the stadiums and the way Maradona moved were basically all one perfect golden sun-drenched substance.Instead Buenos Aires has gone for the Italia 90 version, with the insolent stare and the deep blue kit, hair trimmed into an idealised barbershop photo-style low bouffant. Maradona still managed to lead Argentina to the final in Italy and to produce that otherworldly artist-as-pickpocket...
Veteran playmaker is heading for Qatar 2022 and is enjoying playing for his national team again after difficult period at PSGArgentina’s last home game before the World Cup turned into an unexpected love-in at La Bombonera on Friday. The penultimate qualifier for the already qualified nation (they play Ecuador away in their last fixture) became the emotional send-off that is usually organised with that specific purpose but which the new calendar means will be impossible at a later point in the year.Asked after the game about his future with the national team post-Qatar, Lionel Messi replied with a “who knows”, so potentially this was his last appearance on Argentinian soil wearing the oversized Argentinian strip, which ironically feels too small...