Soccer is the national obsession of Argentina, rivalling Christianity as the country’s main faith.
The kids from the barrios of sprawling Buenos Aires and the bustling metropolises of Rosario and Cordoba play on the streets and makeshift pitches morning, noon and night, emulating their heroes in hopes of one day becoming “the next Maradona.”
Diego Maradona was not only one of the greatest soccer players of all-time, he was also the country’s most famous person before passing away two years ago at age 60. People who know absolutely nothing about Argentina know that’s where Maradona was from, and that he led his nation to World Cup glory in 1986 in Mexico. He was Argentina’s ultimate sporting idol, the very symbol of the country.
Many young Argentine players have dared to ascend to the throne over time, but only one has managed to do it. It was Maradona, the king himself, who shortly after watching a UEFA Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Chelsea in 2006, boldly declared Lionel Messi as his heir apparent.
“I’ve seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentinian football and his name is Messi,” Maradona said at the time. “He is beautiful to watch – my kind of player in our blue and white jersey. He’s a leader and is offering classes in beautiful football. He has something different to any other player in the world.”
Messi has played in four previous World Cups, but he’s been unable to duplicate Maradona’s heroics from Mexico, falling just short in 2014 when Argentina lost to Germany in the final in Rio. Before this year, only 25 men who played and lost in a World Cup final received a second chance to win it all. Messi, at age 35 and playing in his last World Cup match, will get another opportunity at redemption in Sunday’s final vs. France.
Argentina’s ace has been in sensational form over the last month, co-leading the tournament in scoring (with Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappé) with five goals and playing some of his best soccer at the international level. It has to be said: Messi has underwhelmed in his previous trips to the World Cup. But in Qatar, it has been Messi who Argentina has continually turned to in the most crucial moments in games, much like the team looked towards Maradona for divine inspiration 36 years ago in Mexico.
Messi has obliged. He has scored from the penalty spot, netted game winners, converted in shootouts, and set up teammates’ goals with spectacular displays of individual skill. With each passing game, he has looked stronger and better. He hasn’t looked like a man carrying the weight of an entire nation’s expectations on his slim shoulders, but rather as someone who is playing carefree soccer. The kind he used to play in La Bajada, the working-class neighbourhood in Rosario where he grew up and learned to play the game.
Messi’s legacy is already secured. His entrance into the sport’s pantheon alongside the all-time greats is guaranteed when he eventually retires and winning the World Cup on Sunday won’t change that. Yet, while comparisons between the two have become tired and cliched at this point, there has to be a feeling gnawing away inside of Messi that he must deliver a World Cup to Argentina, or forever live in the shadow of Maradona, who was nicknamed El Pibe de Oro – The Golden Boy.
Messi is beloved by Argentina. Let there be no mistake about that. But in many ways, he has not had the same intimate relationship with his homeland compared to Maradona.
A lifelong supporter of Newell’s Old Boys, Messi joined the Rosario-based club when he was still a child, scoring hundreds of goals as a member of the team’s youth system. But he left Rosario for Spain shortly after becoming a teenager, enrolling in FC Barcelona’s famous La Masia youth academy in 2000 at age 13. His move to Europe was hastened by the fact that he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. His family couldn’t afford the treatment, and clubs in Argentina declined to pick up the tab.
Knowing what a gem of a player they had on its hands, FC Barcelona paid for the treatment, and the rest is history. Messi’s entire professional career has been spent in Europe, mostly in Spain. He’s never played at club level in his home country, and most Argentine fans have never seen him play in the flesh. Instead, they’ve had to watch his brilliance from afar. Maradona, on the other hand, featured for Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors, two of the country’s biggest clubs, and represented Argentina at the 1982 World Cup before being transferred to FC Barcelona that summer.
Argentine fans saw Maradona grow up before their very eyes and marvelled when he made his professional debut for Argentinos Juniors at age 15. They witnessed firsthand his rise from the abject poverty of Villa Fiorito, a shanty town on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires where he grew up, to the bright lights of La Bombonera with Boca Juniors, with whom he won a league title in 1981. They could identify more closely with Maradona, because in many ways he was one of them. His story was their story. His struggle was their struggle. His success was their success.
Much like Maradona, Messi is held up as a national hero. But he lacks that special connection with the country’s populace. A victory on Sunday would draw him closer to Argentina and earn a special place in the collective heart of its people.
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.
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