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Hovering: Lionel Messi
Photo: JUAN MABROMATA / AFP
Tonight, when Argentina plays Holland, we will be faced with the luck of being a contemporary of Lionel Messi, with the unique luck of seeing him play.
It was February and already very warm, I was standing at the Formula 1 track in Barcelona with my cousin, who is very interested in racing but little in football, and I had the idea of showing him the best footballer in the world.
We went to Camp Nou on scooters, Barcelona played against Eibar.
The best footballer in the world could have had a bad day - the screening effect doesn't spare heroes.
But he dribbled in small steps through the struggling defence, different laws of physics apparently applied to him, the defenders fell over like cartoon characters, Messi scored three goals in the first half and one in the second.
The choirs echoed through the stadium: Messi!
Messi!
Messi!
People rose and bowed as if worshiping him.
I toasted my cousin: You see, that's him, that's football, the most beautiful sport there is.
Lionel Messi is the embodiment of a lightness that we long for.
We who are not able to soar like him.
We drove home on scooters, satisfied and maybe for a moment it felt like we were floating too.