There stood 38-year-old Lionel Messi by the penalty spot, poised for yet another flashbulb moment in a career already overflowing with them. Just a few days removed from his first World Cup hat-trick – one that had thrust him into co-ownership of the all-time tournament goalscoring record – Messi had been gifted an opportunity to notch his 17th goal and stand atop the mountain alone.
Calmly, coolly, he approached the ball. And then he missed the goal entirely.
Messi is far from perfect and he’s missed dozens of penalties over the course of his glittering, 22-year career. This one, though, felt different, in no small part because of the off-field difficulties the Argentinian is presently navigating.
Messi’s camp put out a statement last week announcing that his father, Jorge, is “going through a health situation”, understandably offering little more detail. It has led to rampant speculation, particularly in Argentina, where one television reporter resigned after falsely reporting Messi Sr’s death. Jorge Messi is a formative figure in his son’s life, maybe even more than a typical parent; Messi’s first coach, his confidant and, for the entirety of his career, his agent.
Messi approached the precipice of the goalscoring record again a quarter of an hour later, bringing all of the stadium to its feet with a nifty, dizzying run in the box. His finish, though, was cleared off the goalline. Moments later, he was dispossessed. He spent long stretches of the first half hour wandering the pitch, drifting in and out of action, not entirely unusual at this late stage of his career. Austria were surprisingly assertive. Slowly, surely, one began to wonder – was this simply not Messi’s day?
It is almost always Messi’s day, of course. In the 38th minute, he ran into a pocket of space just outside the box, the same one he almost always does, exploiting a perfectly executed dummy by Thiago Almada and smashing in an inch-perfect finish. He ran, screaming, to the corner flag. Last week’s trio of celebrations felt filled with joy. This one felt angrier.
His second goal came at the death, with just a minute left in second-half stoppage time. Messi has become much more of a provider late in his career and he played a perfect ball across to Julián Alvarez in the area. Alvarez did poorly with his effort but Messi ran on to the rebound and rounded the keeper. His first effort was blocked by a sea of defenders but he persisted, falling to the ground as he drove his second shot home from close range.
Much is made of the perceived preferential treatment Messi receives from referees and the space he is afforded by defenders. Much less is made of the protection he receives from his own teammates, who shield the forward like a national treasure. Messi’s pedigree and aura have always afforded him universal respect and protection.
And for a select few, friendship. In his play on the field, he has no peers in this Argentina side (or anywhere else, for that matter), but off the field a handful of players share a close bond with him. The goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez has stated publicly he would “die in goal” for his captain and long-time teammate. Nicolás Otamendi tattooed Messi’s face on his body after winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. At 32, the midfielder Rodrigo De Paul chose a transfer to Inter Miami to play alongside Messi as he closed his career. Younger players view their captain with wide-eyed admiration. Young and old alike talk of wanting to win this summer’s tournament to send him out a champion.
Messi’s head coach, Lionel Scaloni, has provided his own measure of support, having broken down into tears on multiple occasions in Argentina’s group-stage opener. He is among the more emotive, entertaining managers at this year’s tournament and he provided a remarkable moment at his pre-match press conference on Sunday, pushing back at a journalist who asked a simple yet somewhat pointed question: how has the team been dealing with the situation surrounding Messi’s father, specifically the false report of his death?
“The press conference really had to start this way?” Scaloni asked indignantly. “We’re good and we’re ready for the game tomorrow.” Scaloni then motioned for the next question.
On Monday afternoon, there was no masking any Argentinian’s support for Messi. The diminutive forward is adored as a baseline but he was supported at every turn in Dallas, his name chanted hours before the match in parking lots and screamed every time his image was shown on the jumbotron. Messi’s likeness adorned hundreds of flags brought in by fans, many of them bearing the names of the far-flung Argentinian provinces they had travelled from.
Supporters of La Albiceleste have a well-earned reputation as some of the loudest and most passionate on earth, creating a party atmosphere wherever they go. On Monday, during Messi’s triumphs and failings alike, all of that noise was present, but felt different. Yes, they were celebrating an idol, but in this moment, they were also propping him up.
