Sunday, December 18, 2022, will always be remembered as the day in which Lionel Messi became immortal.
It’s a date that will be written in every sports book, celebrated and recreated in myriad ways. That day, football found a cosmic balance, offering one of its true greats the World Cup he’d been seeking since the start of his career. Messi finally touched the trophy at 35 years, five months and 24 days old. It was not just potentially the perfect ending to his World Cup career, but the start of a new life. An eternal life.
“¿QUE MIRAS, BOBO?”
In Argentina today, thousands of Messi tattoos are being inked, dozens of Messi street murals are being painted. Inscriptions of new-born babies under the names Lionel and Lionela have grown by 700 per cent.
The first Lionel Messi Street came in Uriburu, a tiny town in the province of La Pampa. Many more will follow. Soon, Argentine sat navs will have locals navigating between Messi Alleys, Messi Boulevards and Messi Avenues.
Millions of Instagram and TikTok posts have continued to share random Messi moments. With him, about him, dedicated to him, all have had the power to become a social media of its own: Messigram. If the internet became mankind’s collective mind, Messi has become the collective heart and soul of Argentina’s 47 million citizens.
Back home, the real effect of World Cup victory is still impossible to measure. So far there are mere hints, loose parts of a wider puzzle that few yet fully understand. Not just yet. It’s too soon, too fresh. Messi has made an indelible footprint on Argentine society, prompting a debt of gratitude that will be paid every day, for eternity. The final in Qatar was like the Big Bang – it will be studied, dissected, theorised, told and retold for generations. The most spectacular World Cup final of all time ended in victory for the player who’s shaped 21st-century football, against another, Kylian Mbappe, who could shape the next decade or more.
“HE SUFFERED SUCH S**T. WE WANTED TO WIN FOR ARGENTINA BUT WE ALSO WANTED TO WIN FOR MESSI”
The team Lionel Scaloni assembled in Qatar functioned to perfection and featured key contributions from Emiliano Martinez, Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, Angel Di Maria and Julian Alvarez. Yet it was Messi who stepped up and stole the show in every game.
A few minutes past 9pm in Doha, 3pm in Argentina, the captain finally lifted the trophy he’d dreamed of since he was a little kid. The only silverware that mattered to him, more even than all seven Ballons d’Or lined up together. First receiving the player of the tournament award, then posing with it for photographers, he couldn’t hide his anxiety. “Now bring me the
