For Argentina Messi has spent an unthinkable 1,038 minutes on the field without scoring from open play and has been unable to put an end to the much talked about 22-year trophy drought for the national team, writes Deeptesh Sen
The image of a disgruntled Lionel Messi staring forlornly at the World Cup after Argentina lost to Germany won the sports photograph of the year. It was an image powerful for its connotative value as it captured the essence of Messi’s failure in the La Albiceleste shirt. An image which ‘pierces the viewer’ it has the sobriety of a vainglorious emperor who having conquered everything falls short in the same accursed terrain which dutifully reminds him of his mortality. So representative is the photograph of Messi’s struggle that it might contribute to the poetics of nostalgia 10 years down the line when idle men sitting down for an evening coffee might compare it with the indelible cliché of a John Ford Western where the lonely hero rides off into the sunset.
Messi’s form for Barcelona of late, however, is visibly different. In the last six years, Messi has scored an astounding 332 goals in 321 matches for Barcelona including a record scoring streak in 21 consecutive matches. The highest goal scorer in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League at the moment, Messi has won seven La Ligas, three Copas del Rey, six Supercopas de Espana, four UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups for Barcelona. His personal achievements include four Ballon d’Ors and three European Golden shoes. Every odd discerning sports fan by now complains of the tyranny of statistics. Numbers are not everything and even less so for Lionel Messi. What sets Messi apart is the artistry behind his nonchalance, the poetry of his movement, the ‘sprezzatura’, to borrow a term from Castiglione, the 15th century Italian courtier and diplomat, with which he delivers his performances.
The very first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Messi is the superlative goals, the sudden little bursts of speed and the nutmegs –no showboating, but just pure class. Think of the five goals he scored against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League in 2012 which included two audacious chips. Or the chip over Manuel Neur, arguably the best goal-keeper on the planet, in last year’s Champion’s League. Messi has shown that on his day, he has the ability to leave defenders of the calibre of David Luiz or Jerome Boateng deeply embarrassed.
But there were the usual detractors who argued that much of the success that Messi enjoyed at Barcelona was because of the antics of Andres Iniesta, the superb playmaker and Xavi Hernandez, one of the best registas of the modern game who sat deep and pulled the strings. The story of how the Catalan giants, bowled over by the prodigious talent of a 13-year-old Messi, wrote out his contract on a napkin and decided to fund his entire treatment is, of course, well known by now. By the time Messi made his debut, Ronaldinho had taken him under his wing. While the opponent’s defence had the likes of Ronaldinho and Kaka to contend with, an almost unknown Messi with his long hair seemed to be the new messiah as he kept scoring quietly.
Credit for much of Messi’s switch from a prodigious young talent to a superstar should go to Pep Guardiola, one of the tactical geniuses of the modern game who popularised the tiki-taka and built the Barcelona system centred around Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. In his book Pep Confidential, Marti Perarnau mentions a popular anecdote about how Guardiola utilised his tactical acumen to exploit the best out of Messi. Just before the El Clásico in May 2009, Guardiola found that the Real Madrid midfielders Guti, Royston Drenthe and Fernando Gago tried to stop Barcelona’s passing game by pressing high up on players like Xavi and Yaya Toure while at the same time, their centre backs Fabio Cannavaro and Christoph Metzelder used to sit back in and around the box thereby leaving a gaping hole in the midfield. Samuel Eto’o started as a proper centre forward in that match but after 10 minutes when Guardiola gave the signal, Eto’o moved to the wing while Messi shifted to the centre. Messi played deep more as a roaming forward that day leaving Cannavaro and Metzelder unsure whether they should sit back or move further away from Casillas. Metzelder still remembers what he had gone through that day: “Fabio and I looked at each other. What do we do? Do we follow him to the midfield or stay deep? We didn’t have a clue.” The tactical genius not only led to the birth of the false nine in modern football but also it re-defined Messi’s role in the team. Barcelona went on to win 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu that day.
Ever since Guardiola left and Tito Vilanova had to retire because of his illness, Messi looked visibly unhappy. Reports of a clash of egos with Luis Enrique earlier this season was well known – Messi was unhappy with the fact that he had been pushed out wide on the right, a position in which Tata Martino had tried him earlier. But the story of how all the differences were set aside and Barcelona turned it around to make it a treble-winning season is too good to be true. Enrique shed off Guardiola’s love for possession and adopted a more direct approach. The fluid front line comprising Messi, Suarez and Neymar scored over 100 goals between them last season. And the fluidity of the front three with Messi given the opportunity to roam suited him perfectly. It was reminiscent of the tactical brilliance of Pep in his early days at Barcelona when he tried to employ Cryuff’s system of total football.
For his national team, Argentina, however, it is a completely different story. Messi has spent an unthinkable 1,038 minutes on the field without scoring from open play and has been unable to put an end to the much talked about 22-year trophy drought for the national team. Messi’s debut for the Argentine national team is believed to have set an ominous precedent for him. Having turned down an offer from the Spanish football federation to play for them at the age of 16, the excitement surrounding Messi had reached its pinnacle in La Masia by the time Messi made his debut against Hungary, much like the legendary Diego Maradona himself. But his debut lasted only 44 seconds as he caught the Hungarian defender Vilmos Vanczák with a flailing arm – who made the most of it – and was sent off immediately by Markus Merk, the German referee.
Messi has been lambasted for his performance in the recently concluded Copa America final by his grandfather Antonio Cuccitini who has called him “lazy”. Maradona himself had unkind words for Messi: “We have the best player in the world and he scores four goals against Real Sociedad but comes here and doesn’t touch the ball.” But how much of it is Messi’s fault? In the World Cup in Brazil last year, Messi almost single-handedly took his team to the finals with superlative performances. Sepp Blatter, the then Fifa President’s criticism of Messi saying he did not deserve the golden ball seemed to be rather unjust. In the Copa America this year, Messi had been in top form – even though he did not score, he had been racking up assists. In hindsight, it was strange tactics from the coach, Tata Martino that let them down. Martino subbed off Ageuro – who looked shocked – and preferred Higuain to Tevez. To play the dying moments of the final without Aguero and Tevez – two of the deadliest strikers in world football today – was incredible to say the least.
Is winning titles with the national team, however, a mandatory criterion for judging the greatness of a player? The fact that Paolo Maldini, Johan Cruyff and David Beckham never won the World Cup does not make them any less great. Paul Scholes, the most decorated player in English history, never even played in the World Cup finals. Nor for Cristiano Ronaldo, the man whom many consider to be the only worthy competitor of Messi in the modern game, does this become a necessary yardstick for greatness. However, many could justifiably argue that Argentina, with a solid centre-back combination and charismatic attacking midfielders, had the team to do it this time.
But luck also plays a major role in a sportsman’s life – something Messi would not like to deny. Think of the miss in the World Cup finals when Messi was one on one with the goalkeeper and the Brazuca seemed to have a trademark Messi goal written all over it. Instead Messi shot tantalisingly wide across the face of the open goal. Just like in the World Cup final last year, Gonzalo Higuain missed a good chance right at the end of regulation time in the Copa America final. Angel di Maria whose missing out in the final of the World Cup was a crucial disadvantage, limped out of the Copa America final. The twists of fate were uncannily similar to say the least. Throughout the final, the Chilean midfield had given Messi no time on the ball and engaged in high intensity physical challenges which included an ugly high kick from Gary Medel directed at Messi’s abdomen. When Higuain missed his penalty, Messi turned away already aware of what was to come. Like a Sophoclean hero who is powerless in the face of cruel conspiracy of fate, Messi, battered and bruised, must have been reflecting quietly on the ineluctable force of his hamartia. He had once again missed the mark.
The writer is an MPhil student at Jadavpur University, Kolkata
