Nahuel Lanzillotta
06/21/2021 6:00 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 06/21/2021 6:00 AM
Lionel Messi is the Argentine National Team.
There is no doubt that for a long time everything that revolves around the national team has to do with the best player in the world, precisely because of his status as the
galactic
of the number five ball.
But now that statement can also be read in reverse with complete safety without having any fear of falling into an error or exaggeration:
the Argentine National Team is Lionel Messi.
The blue and white pilcha defines him as much as the blue and red of his FC Barcelona.
And in these hours in which the uncertainty about his continuity in the Catalan club remains within a silence that despairs his fans, the identification of the 10 with the shirt of his country crosses
a breaking point.
Almost 16 years after his debut with the Major, after
four World Cups
and playing
his sixth
Copa América, established as the undisputed leader of this era, Leo will meet 147 this Monday at 21, against Paraguay and at the Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia. encounters. In this way, he
will equalize
his friend Javier Mascherano
as the player with the most presence with the blue and white flag.
So far, since its premiere in the friendly against Hungary on August 17, 2005 (he entered for Lisandro López in the second half and a couple of minutes later he
was sent off
),
La Pulga
played 146 games: he won 86, drew 34 and lost 26 ;
scored 73 points.
In fact, he is four shouts away from reaching
a certain Pele
(77)
as the top scorer for South American teams.
Four days after turning 34, the Rosario is gradually getting
into the last years
of a successful career.
And in this sense, you still have to resolve your contractual situation with the institution in which you practically grew up after your first steps at Newell's.
June 30 will be
the last day of legal union between Messi and Barcelona.
Without substantial news in the negotiation, and beyond the desire and anxiety of the Spanish leaders, everything indicates that for the first time the day will come when 10
is free to act
, although this does not mean that they will end up leaving the
culé
box
.
Lionel Messi plays for the Argentine National Team as he does for Barcelona and he wants the title that is denied him.
Photo: @Argentina
"We want Messi to sign for two years. Agüero is helping: he is repeating every day to stay and sign now," said
Joan Laporta
, president of Barcelona, in a note recently given to the newspaper
La Vanguardia.
The concrete thing is that, as
Clarín was
able to find out
, it is most likely that the end of the novel will only be written after the America's Cup, when Lionel returns to Europe.
In the middle,
the contact between his father,
Jorge
, and the Catalan managers continues.
The rumors are constant and of all colors.
However, this scenario
that could affect anyone
in their spirits or their performance,
does not seem to alter a Messi
who holds with all his strength to the affective bond that unites him to the National Team.
While in Spain
- and in the world -
they wonder what he will do
with his future,
Leo
plays at the highest level
with the 10 albiceleste on his back.
His focus is there and for the moment it shows that nothing can disturb him in his quest to pursue the dream of catching a title with the Major, not even the pending decisions on his immediate fate for the next few seasons.
Or do you already know internally that you will continue to play for your usual club?
Only he has the answer.
Whatever it is, Messi does not get distracted or lose concentration in his National Team days
.
And also enjoy.
Enjoy inviting a Brazilian fan at the door of the hotel to sign an imposing tattoo of his figure that was immortalized all over his back.
Enjoy
their leadership.
Of his reference to a group that maintains the right balance
to treat him as one more without ceasing to admire him.
Enjoy trying again the one thing that until now you could not achieve.
And, also,
enjoy finally playing in Argentina as in Barcelona.
The sequence of the dream fulfilled from the other side: @MatiPelliccioni found this tremendous tattoo of a Brazilian fan, Messi saw it on the TyC Sports networks and expressed his desire to sign it.
HERE IT IS!
✍️ pic.twitter.com/C9FCZSTyGJ
- TyC Sports (@TyCSports) June 20, 2021
The team can depend on him, sometimes more, sometimes less.
You can convince at times.
You can make mistakes that cost you valuable points.
You can continue in training.
And it may still
not make you feel entirely comfortable
near the opponent's area, the area where it does the most damage.
What he cannot do is make a
Leo
Messi
surrender totally devoted in body and mind
, ready to put
Barcelona
on
standby
while he fixes his gaze on the AFA shield and continues to increase his legend.
From being the highest scorer to reach the one with the most presences,
Masche
-
who will surely go through several bodies
-, the 10 will go to the field with nothing more than with the National Team in the lead to look for another triumph that will ensure the classification to the quarterfinals end and keep dreaming in blue and white.
Look also
Scandal in the Copa América: six players from Chile broke the bubble and threw a party
Messi fulfilled the dream of the Brazilian fan and signed the tattoo on his back