Mariano verrina
08/30/2020 - 12:00
- Clarín.com
- sports
Lionel Messi does not sing the anthem.
The dart tries to hit where it hurts the most. Hide a large dose of envy. It doesn't really matter whether or not you open your mouth while the homeland song is playing. Aggression has only one objective: to mark distance.
Until not long ago Messi was one of them. And it was our fault.
He could be the superhero of Barcelona because there they had the recipe to make him happy. On the other hand, to arrive here was to land in annoyance, to live with the miseries of Argentine football. It was ashamed to have Messi here .
From here the there is usually idealized.
Messi, with the 10 of the Argentine National Team. Photo: EFE
He immediately signs up for Europe to provide examples of what to do: Bayern Munich's is the most repeated in recent times, although it is worth clarifying that only 9 months ago when Hans-Dieter Flick took office the team was in crisis and Croatian Niko Novac was fired after a catastrophic 1-5 against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Barcelona was always the machete that had to be copied to seduce Messi. You had to try to do what they did there so that here too Messi could be Messi.
In the National Team the third frustration was the charm . “It's over, the Selection is over for me. Tried it anyway, that's it. It's unbelievable but I'm not given it ” , he released with a mixture of resignation and relief on June 27, 2016 in New Jersey where Argentina just lost the final of the Copa América to Chile. Leaving third consecutive final. And Messi said enough.
Four days earlier he had made his harshest criticism of the Argentine leadership. "Once again waiting on a plane to try to go to the destination ... What a disaster are those of AFA by God!", He wrote on his social networks.
Those were times of transition after the death of Julio Grondona. A Normalizing Commission was emerging that only added fuel to the fire. In the image that accompanied Messi's message, Sergio Agüero was seen by his side. The Kun appears again on the scene now to shelter him.
The photo that Messi uploaded to his social networks to criticize the actions of the AFA.
The fault, obviously, was ours. And that feeling triggered a spontaneous plan for reconciliation. Here the Obelisk was mobilized to change its mind. The signs in the streets in the place to indicate if a road cut was approaching asked for the return of Messi. The message was clear: forgive us, let's change, think about it, don't get divorced.
And beyond? Since Pep Guardiola left in 2012, six technicians have taken over in Barcelona. Six coaches in eight seasons: Tito Vilanova , Tata Martino, Luis Enrique, Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setién and now Ronald Koeman.
Messi, who at the age of 24 had already lifted the trophy he likes the most, the Champions League (2006, 2009 and 2011) three times, went on to win just one (2015) of the following nine editions.
In an article published in the newspaper El País , journalist Juan Irigoyen reviews the reactions of Rosario in his toughest defeats with the Blaugrana shirt. "He passed without saying a word through the mixed areas of Rome in 2018 (Iniesta and Busquets spoke), Anfield in 2019 (Luis Suárez and Busquets) and Lisbon in 2020 (Piqué and Sergi Roberto)".
The image that remains is that of Leo sitting staring in a locker room that, despite having 45 minutes ahead of Bayern Munich, already knew he was defeated.
Bleak. Lionel Messi, sitting in the changing room, with Ter Stegen at the door Photo Capture TV
Nonsensical changes of coaches, distant leaders and with erratic steps, jerks with the sports director, internal espionage, the team throwing drowning slaps trying to fit different pieces to see if something presentable is put together, the objectives that slip and the records Individuals who are no longer a consolation in the face of the string of frustrations, some of them with humiliating results.
This time it is not the National Team, it is Barcelona.
It happened the other way around. The way they told us it couldn't happen.
It's the worst ending for Lionel Messi . After the toughest loss in 20 years in the same jersey. Although he has not yet left, Messi has already left. Four years after resigning from the National Team, to which he returned two months later, he decides to slam the door harder: he leaves behind a large piece of his life.
In silence, with exchanges for burofax, with a sign of rebellion in which he does not look comfortable, with a wear that has become unsustainable.
Maybe Barcelona was not that fantastic world that you could see from here. Or perhaps he replied to everything bad that seems to be the exclusive property of our navel.
MFV