Messi - D10S

In a sport that produces superstars every year, what does it take to get immortalised as one of the greats for posterity? The answer could be very simple and yet quite complicated. In today’s day and age, when every move and tackle made, every pass completed and every goal scored makes it to the handsets of millions of football fans within seconds, it sure could be easy to become popular in the world’s most popular sport. Over the years, there have been several stars who have produced greatness on the greens, from Alfredo de Stefano to Johan Cryuff, Ferenc Puskas to Lev Yashin, Zico to Michel Platini, there are a plethora of names that one can recount. But when it comes to the list of the greatest of them all, they are all dwarfed by two names, Brazil’s Pele and Argentina’s Diego Maradona. This is because apart from the exemplary skills and achievements that the two could boast of, leading their respective countries to the World Cup title ensured that their names have been written in the annals of footballing history in golden letters.

On Sunday, December 18, 2022, another name joined that rare and elite list of all. Lionel Messi, not that his silken dribbling skills, innumerable goals at club and international level, were not enough to earn him a legendary status, but a World Cup win was just the stamp that he needed to become an all-time great. The magician himself was at the forefront, scoring 7 times in the tournament, including two strikes in the see-saw final encounter against defending champions France. He shattered several records en route to the trophy that Argentina has been pining for 36 long years since the great El Diego had done it for them. Having emulated his idol at last, Messi is truely now Argentina’s “Messiah”. Lionel Messi is ‘D10S’ (DIOS), a combination of the Spanish word for “God” with the No. 10 on his jersy. Before the 2022 World Cup, Messi had only scored six World Cup goals - meaning he more than doubled his tally from his previous four tournaments combined.

The Argentina captain was part of the national team that lost to Germany 1-0 in the 2014 final, but the magic he produced game in, game out during his peak years for Barcelona never seemed to translate when wearing the blue and white stripes of his country. He has now surpassed Pele with 13 goals at World Cups and is tied for fourth with Just Fontaine on the all-time list. His seven in this year’s tournament surpassed Maradona’s five at the 1986 edition in Mexico. In what may come as a relief to millions of football fans across the world, Argentine talisman Lionel Messi has announced that he will continue to play football for Argentina.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

OM SHARMA The writer is pursuing engineering from the University of Melbourne (Australia)