Messi

by Luca Caioli

  Chapter 29

  You have to prove it

  Conversation with Carlos Salvador Bilardo

  Call him the oracle, the professor, the grey matter, the father of a new school of footballing thought (Bilardism, of course), or simply, the Narigón (nosy one). All of them are titles that Bilardo has garnered over the length of his successful career as a footballer and coach, as much in his own country as abroad. His philosophy is well known: ‘Winning is all that matters,’ and ‘No one remembers the runner-up,’ and of course ‘A final is a question of life and death.’ Now, after a stint in politics as sports secretary for the province of Buenos Aires, the medical doctor who dedicated himself to football has returned to his true love: he is now the general manager of the Argentine national team. And, as always, he enjoys reflecting on football in his usual frank and ironic way.

  It’s possible that you were the coach who has had the greatest rapport with Maradona. You had it in the national team that won the World Cup in Mexico in ’86; in Italy in ’90 when the Albiceleste reached the final; and in Sevilla; and you were by his side in the 2010 World Cup. In short, you know Diego very well, and you follow Messi’s development, which leads us to ask: ‘Is Leo the new Diego?’

  ‘In Argentina, and not only in Argentina, when a new player breaks onto the scene there is always a comparison to be made with Maradona. Many people have gained the title of new Maradona … the problem is that they have to keep proving that they’re on his level. In his day, Diego proved he was the best in the world. Messi is doing very well, he’s on the right track, but if he doesn’t win a World Cup, as team leader, he will never get to Maradona’s level. Just as has happened with other great footballers who haven’t been crowned world champions. I’m thinking of Gullit, Cruyff, or Platini.’

  Leaving the future aside, let’s talk about Messi’s goal against Getafe and Maradona’s goal against England, which you saw from the dugout …

  ‘They are two similar goals, in different situations: one at a national level in the quarter-finals of a world championship, the other at a club level in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.’

  OK … but did it surprise you?

  ‘It surprised me the way that Spain went crazy for Messi. They couldn’t talk about anything else. And here as well: they didn’t stop showing it on TV over and over again.’

  And from a technical point of view?

  ‘It surprised me that from the moment he got the ball until the execution, Messi maintains the same level of power. Maradona changed rhythm and Messi always moves in the same way. He does the same as all left-footers who play on the other touchline. When they get the ball on the right hand side and move inwards they have the whole width of the goal in which to score.’

  Which of the two do you prefer?

  ‘I’ll stick with Maradona’s goal. Maradona had people coming at him continuously, and the central defenders staggered their attack: first Butcher and then Fenwick. Messi ran 30 metres without anyone trying to tackle him. That’s why he gets more touches with his right foot, his weaker foot. He leads with it, and then he always sidesteps with his left foot. It’s very difficult for the defenders to get at him because he comes bounding along and he goes very fast. In the end, the central defenders wait for him in a line, and it’s easier for him.’

  Messi and Maradona … let’s consider their qualities.

  ‘From three-quarters of the way up the pitch, up to the goal, they are two players who can decide a match, they have quick, short steps, it’s difficult to take the ball from them and they also kick well.’

  Can you compare them in other respects?

  ‘Comparisons are an eternal feature of football. How many times has Maradona been compared to Pelé, Platini or Cruyff in order to ascertain who was better? But times are changing, just like with medicine. The knowledge of a doctor today is not the same as it was twenty years ago.’

  Anything else?

  ‘I still don’t know Messi very well. With regard to Diego I can say that he is a man who knows his football, tactically and technically.’

  Chapter 30

  Disappointment

  15 July 2007

  Sadness and anger. These feelings and many more occupy Messi’s thoughts and words in the middle of June. The reason is simple: Barcelona haven’t won the titles they were hoping to take home. From eight possible titles, they have had to make do with the Spanish Super Cup – nothing more. A particularly poor outcome. And for someone like the Flea, who thinks only of winning, he cannot but feel bad about it. And think about how ‘we started well. Then we were knocked out of the Champions League too early. Then, when we thought we had got past the most difficult part, we went out of the Copa del Rey. If you add it all up, it’s painful,’ he explains in an interview with France Football. He doesn’t speak of the league, the hardest blow to deal with. In February, it seemed as if the Blaugrana had it in the bag and that the persecution of Capello’s Real Madrid was nothing more than a dream to keep the championship alive and to have something to say to the media. However, it wasn’t to be: points lost in the final moments, particularly against Betis and Espanyol, end up gifting the title to the Whites. Why not give a financial incentive to Mallorca, Madrid’s rivals in the last fixture on 17 June at the Bernabéu? (It is common practice in Spain to reward teams who beat your local rivals.) Messi sees nothing wrong with it if it helps them win, but despite the Argentine’s good intentions and expectations, the miracle, which seemed possible­ in the 65th minute, is not forthcoming in the end. And so, the last chance to save the season disappears, leaving only disappointment. In short, nothing has turned out as expected and ‘the hero is left without a prize’, as the El País headline reads. Because in fact, on an individual level, it has been a positive season for Messi. The Argentine has played an indisputable starring role in many magical nights: it was he who momentarily thwarted Real Madrid’s inconsistencies with his famous hat-trick. Then came the Foot of Maradona and the Hand of God II, wonders and tricks that did not amount to anything. The goals scored and the award for best foreign Liga player are nothing more than a meagre consolation prize.

  Luckily, football doesn’t stop. Awaiting him are the national team and the Copa América and, with them, the chance to recover from the blow he has suffered. And the possibility of being in the starting line-up in an important tournament, not simply part of the squad, as happened to him in the Germany World Cup.

  Alfio ‘el Coco’ Basile, the selector who has assumed José Pekerman’s post, is counting on him. He knows that the Flea has a huge amount to contribute to the national team and that he has a fundamental role to play in his plans for the team. He does not want to repeat his predecessor’s errors. He calls him up for the European mini-tour, in Berne and Barcelona, where they will face Switzerland and Algeria, with a view to playing him in the continental championship which will take place in Venezuela, where the whole world is convinced that Messi will play the leading role. In a poll on the tournament’s official website, Leo is winning by a considerable margin (33 per cent of the votes), beating the Chilean Matías Fernández and the Venezuelan Juan Arango. Brazilian Real Madrid player Robinho, who will eventually be chosen as best player and will be awarded the title of highest goal scorer, with six goals, is bottom of the list with only eight per cent of the votes.

  On 24 June in Maracaibo, four days before Argentina’s opening match against the United States, Messi celebrates his twentieth birthday and the media wheedle out of him an obvious wish: ‘To win the Copa América and be the highest goal scorer.’ Argentina has not won it since 1993, making the pressure and expectations enormous. The expectations placed on Messi are so high that, in contrast to what happened in Germany, both the squad and the coach fuss over him. Coco even provides him with a mentor: ‘La Brujita’ Juan Sebastián Verón. The 32-year-old ex-Boca, Sampdoria, Parma, Inter, Lazio, Manchester United and Chelsea player, who has had newfound success with his first love, Estudiantes de la Plata (an Arge
ntine team), offers advice to the twenty-year-old Messi both on and off the pitch, and defends him against accusations that he is an arrogant soloist. ‘Messi is reserved. He doesn’t hang out in a group drinking mate. He prefers to play PlayStation. To me it’s like he’s my little brother, who I have to take care of. I have to keep him safe!’ he explains in El País. And in fact, Messi does need taking care of because Messimania has been unleashed in Venezuela. It’s madness, the kid can’t take a step without being surrounded by hordes of fans, shirts with his name on are selling like hotcakes to adults and children alike, and on the pitch he barely has to touch the ball to get a standing ovation, even when he misses. If he is not in the starting line-up, as happens in the game against Paraguay, within ten minutes the annoyed crowd are calling his name.

  It is a blind love, which reaches its peak at the Lara de Barquisimeto stadium. Messi is walking towards the dressing room tunnel, tired and distracted, when out of the blue he sees a girl. Leo has seen that she is about to throw herself off the stands – worried, he waves his arms and shouts: ‘Stop, what are you doing …?’ The love-struck twenty-something­ doesn’t listen to reason and jumps. Luckily she falls on her feet. Soldiers and security guards pounce on her, but before they can take her away she manages to embrace her idol and plant two kisses on him. Leo looks decidedly perplexed, as does Simon, the referee, who grabs him by the arm demanding an explanation, convinced that it was some kind of attack.

  ‘It was unbelievable. I was signalling to her not to jump and she ended up jumping anyway. I swear I didn’t know what to do,’ he will later confess to Clarín. ‘It was at least a four-metre drop. She could have killed herself, and on top of that they got her out of there pretty quickly without even seeing if the poor girl was okay or not.’

  The incident happens on 8 July, in the quarter-finals. Argentina have just beaten Peru 4-0, and in the 61st minute Messi has scored that longed-for goal. He did not score in the previous matches, against the United States, Colombia and Paraguay, although he has been decisive in mobilising and transforming the Albiceleste machine. Like in the debut against the Americans, when he serves the ball up on a plate for Crespo to score his second goal, or during the 25 minutes in which he plays in the second half of Paraguay-Argentina (Basile wants to rest him for the quarters), when he brings a bit of spice to an otherwise boring game. But he was still missing the goal, and scoring it against the Peruvians is a weight off his shoulders. And in the semi-final against Mexico in Puerto Ordaz, he reestablishes his position, creating another masterpiece. According to the commentators, ‘They should pack up and go home’. ‘That’s what geniuses do,’ says Basile. ‘Shall we pack up and leave? What more do we need? Why should we continue after having seen that goal?’ The commentators of Tyc Sports, an Argentine TV channel, agree with Coco. And that’s not all. Here’s little Carlos Tévez: ‘What Messi did was brilliant. He didn’t have many clear opportunities to score, but the first ball he got was an incredible goal.’ Mascherano: ‘It was one of those moments of genius that we’ve come to expect from him. Nothing he does surprises me any more. He’s extraordinary.’ Cambiasso: ‘It was a stunning goal.’ Heinze: ‘There are no words to describe Messi’s goal.’ In essence, a goal that ended up taking its place among all the clips of the Flea’s best goals posted on the Internet.

  But what has he managed to pull out of his hat this time? Let’s see the replay. In the 60th minute Heinze, who scored the goal that put them ahead, passes to Cambiasso. The Inter player, with two defenders closing in on him, returns it to Heinze who looks for the shot from his own half; Tévez receives it outside the box with his back to the goalkeeper. He controls it on his chest, plays it down, turns and passes to Messi who is off, quick as a flash. He gets into the box, lifts his head, sees the goalie and sends the ball through the air with incredible grace. A perfect arc, a chip which beats Sánchez, the desperate goalie, who jumps backwards and stretches out a gloved hand, but doesn’t even manage to get a finger to the ball, which curls in under the crossbar. Leo watches the ball until the net billows, then he runs towards the corner flag to celebrate with the Argentine fans. Verón, his mentor, is the first to reach him, the boy jumps on his neck while from the dugout Coco throws up his arms, applauds and laughs delightedly.

  ‘Did you feel they should have packed up and gone home after your masterpiece?’ ‘No, stop it, stop it. It was a beautiful goal, nothing more. The important thing is that it helped Argentina get to the final.’ That is Messi’s response to the question from La Nación the following day. But they push him. ‘Do you think it was the most amazing goal of your career?’ ‘Maybe, I don’t know, I have scored a few good ones, like the one against Getafe. The truth is I haven’t really seen it on TV. Everyone says it was really good: I saw the goalie come off his line and I took the chance. It turned out well, didn’t it?’

  Same old Messi, unshakable in his modesty. Although he claims the rights to his dream: that of beating Brazil in the final. Leo had said since the beginning that he wanted to play against Brazil, and his wish has been granted. He wants to put that 3-0 from a friendly at Wembley the previous September behind him.

  His friend Ronaldinho will not be there, which Leo says is just as well; neither will Kaká. In any case, although they have lost the opening match against Mexico and only managed to win the semi-final against Uruguay on penalties, the Green and Golds are still tough rivals to beat. Moreover, finals are a different story – you can never be certain what will happen. Something that does become painfully certain is that Argentine dreams are buried with a resounding 3-0 thanks to the beast Júlio Baptista, Albiceleste captain Ayala’s own goal, and Daniel Alves. They corner the elegant team and they do it well. At the José Romero stadium in Maracaibo, Argentina make no impact, it’s as if they don’t exist. And Messi? ‘He did little to change history,’ says Clarín. ‘With neither frenzy nor football, Leo ended up being fenced in by his Brazilian marker and remained trapped in his labyrinth.’ The images are more revealing than commentaries or critiques. Messi sitting on the pitch with a lost look in his eyes; Dady, the physio, shaking his head at him in a consolatory gesture; FIFA president Joseph Blatter presenting him with his medal, and Messi coming down from the stands only to take it off and hold it in his fist. He has been chosen as the best young player of the Copa América. But what good is that … in the wake of this new disappointment, there is nothing but anger and sadness.

  Chapter 31

  An electric kid

  Conversation with Alfio ‘El Coco’ Basile

  Seated at his usual table in the back corner of the La Raya restaurant in Buenos Aires, Coco is chatting with a group of friends. Among them are players, journalists, old acquaintances – a regular get-together. Every so often, the unmistakable deep, rough voice of the Argentine coach is heard above the background hum and the noise of glasses clinking and cutlery scraping. Claudio Codina, the owner of the restaurant who is like a son to Basile, gently interrupts the gathering and joins him in talking about Messi. With a cigarette between his fingers and a glass in his hand, the words flow thick and fast from the mouth of the Bella Vista ex-defender.

  ‘I love Leo very much, because he’s a great lad. He’s humble, he doesn’t think highly of himself, he doesn’t think of himself as a star and the fame hasn’t gone to his head. He’s a good person. He’s the son every parent would like to have, or the one you’d want to date or marry your daughter. People everywhere love him and not just because he’s an incredible footballer, but because of his personality. Incidentally, let me tell you a story.’

  Tell it, tell it … please.

  ‘We were in Oslo, in a little field surrounded by huge buildings. It was an evening training session, almost nightfall, and there was no one around. But something happened that you don’t expect in a country like Norway, where you’d think even the football fans are cold … All of a sudden the lights went on and the windows opened in houses around and we started to hear people yelling from all direc
tions: “Messi! Messi! Messi!”’

  And what did he say?

  ‘Nothing … it embarrasses him, in the best sense of the word, when people call out to him or praise him. You can see him practically suffering when the spectators shout his name. And the girls … they go crazy, as we saw in Venezuela … Such affection for that little face, for that shyness, for the humanity he exudes … Those are attributes that he gets from his parents. He has an incredible family, who really protect him. When I saw his mother, she said to me: “Look after him for me Coco, please look after him for me.”’

  And did you look after him?

  ‘Of course. I tried to help him, I tried to relieve as much of the pressure as possible, the way they do at Barcelona. They also protect him because they know what he means to their team. But Leo doesn’t get overwhelmed by the pressure. When he gets onto the pitch he doesn’t think about what’s going on around him, he only thinks about playing with the football. He loves the football.’

  While we’re on the subject, let’s talk about Messi in terms of football.

  ‘I met him when he was only fifteen years old and I thought he was very good; now he’s an outstanding footballer. He has speed, acceleration; he can dodge, he’s always capable of creating something new; he is in great shape and has enormous talent. He’s an electric kid. As I always say, I find it exciting to watch Messi play.’

  As you did in the Copa América when Leo scored that goal against Mexico, and you said: ‘They should pack up and go home. That’s what geniuses do.’

  ‘Was I wrong?’

  We don’t even need to answer that … Let’s move onto another genius, Maradona, whom you know well and with whom you have shared ups and downs. Can Messi be compared to the number 10, the way everyone is doing?