Lionel Messi One More Time

Work stopped and the murmurs grew louder in the media tribune of Doha s Lusail Stadium as Lionel Messi gingerly felt the back and side of his left leg. Argentina were leading 2-0 against Croatia, a World Cup final beckoned, but you didn t need to know Spanish... Work stopped and the murmurs grew louder in the media tribune of Doha’s Lusail Stadium as Lionel Messi gingerly felt the back and side of his left leg. Argentina were leading 2-0 against Croatia, a World Cup final beckoned, but you didn’t need to know Spanish to understand the general line of inquiry, which was: Is everything alright with Leo? For Argentine journalists and fans, he is always that. Never Messi. Then, in the 69th minute, Messi went on a run that left Josko Gvardiol chasing a crooked shadow. The young central defender’s leadership and ball-carrying abilities had been widely praised but Messi spun him twice. Such chaos Messi spread in the Croatia penalty area that Julian Alvarez was left unmarked. As suddenly as Messi’s assist made it 3-0 on the night, relief replaced worry in the tribune and on the rafters. It’s the left leg again – an overload on his hamstring this time – but from Barishal to Buenos Aires, Kozhikode to Kansas, Mussoorie to Miami, fans will hope Messi will be ready for Argentina’s first match of the World Cup, against Algeria. Like he was in 2022. He played every minute of that campaign after recovering from an Achilles injury in the lead-up. Messi will be substituted when Messi wants, Lionel Scaloni had said in Doha. Will the Argentina head coach stick to that this summer? On form, there’s no reason not to. Messi went into Major League Soccer’s break for the World Cup on 13 goals and seven assists. He is the only one in the history of the league to have won the MVP in successive seasons, and though he didn’t play a third of the games, Messi was the top scorer in the South American qualifiers (8 goals) which Argentina easily topped. But Messi will turn 39 during the tournament, the summer could leave players struggling like Jannik Sinner did in Paris, so managing minutes could be important. That will be Scaloni’s test. “He (Messi) has to be comfortable on the pitch,” Javier Mascherano has said. “He’s comfortable when things are working in the right way,” said Messi’s former teammate and coach. In the country hosting most of the 104 matches and where he won the 2024 Copa, Messi possibly feels most comfortable since leaving Barcelona. It is important to bring David Beckham in here. Without him joining LA Galaxy, there would possibly have been no Messi in the USA today. And had Beckham not exercised his $25m future option to own a Major League Soccer franchise, there would have been no announcements like “Inter Miami’s goal scored by numero diez,” following which the crowd chants Messi’s name. Nearly a fourth of the over 200,000 Argentines