When Keanu Baccus faced-up against Lionel Messi he wasn’t sure whether his opponent was even real. The St Mirren central midfielder couldn’t decide whether to stand in awe of the creative maestro, check for a pulse in the ‘waxwork-like’ playmaker or take a step back with legions of noisy Argentinian fans watching his every move inside the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium. In the end, Baccus settled for giving Messi a bit of a kicking.
The 24-year-old was handed the mammoth task of keeping Messi quiet in just his fifth appearance for his country after securing a shock progression from the group stage into the knockout rounds.
But combative Baccus didn’t do himself a disservice as he – and midfield partner Aaron Mooy – made sure Messi knew he was in a game and was limited in his involvement, even if he still managed a stunning opening goal on his landmark 1,000th appearance.
“He’s just special. To be honest he looks fake on the field,” said Baccus of taking on Messi.
“A bit like a wax statue, to be honest. I was trying to learn from him but it’s hard when you’re in the thick of the action. He just looks surreal. There’s not a blemish on his face.
“Then there’s the way he plays and how he sees the game.
“He just sees the game differently in his head and it’s special to see now. Imagine what it was like a couple of years ago.
“You end up thinking you shouldn’t be so close to him. He’s such an icon to the Argentine fans. It’s crazy to see the passion they have towards him.
“I didn’t really stand in awe of him though. I ended up kicking him a couple of times instead.
“I didn’t mean to hurt him but I’m a front-foot player and I wanted to stick to him and the whole team and show we’re there to compete.”
Competing against a star-studded Argentina side was everything and more for Baccus who hadn’t even appeared for his country until a friendly against New Zealand just two months out from the World Cup finals. The Buddies favourite appeared in all four of Australia’s matches albeit from the bench against France, Denmark and Tunisia. He did start against Argentina creating a lifelong memory – even if he didn’t manage to snag a rival jersey to mark the occasion.
Instead, close pal and Hearts ace Cammy Devlin – unlucky not to make an appearance at the tournament – took Messi’a landmark shirt home. The Tynecastle midfielder was spotted asking Messi for his shirt at full-time, and Baccus admitted he was thrilled for his team-mate as he opened up on some criticism levelled at Aussie players for pictures with Messi after the match.
“We got a bit of stick after the photo from folk saying we shouldn’t have done it but it’s Messi at the end of the day,” said Baccus of his posed snap with the football icon. “We did our best but we also respected the fact he’s probably the best player to ever play the game along with Ronaldo.
“I love Cammy to bits. We grew up together and I played for Western Sydney with him when I was 16. I’m very happy for him. I would have loved for him to get his debut with me. That would have been special but that’s football and it happens like that. “Messi’s shirt is not a bad consolation prize. I think he got a few, not just that one. He said that he didn’t want to step on any of the toes of the boys who started. It doesn’t really matter though. He got the nod from Messi. If you don’t ask you don’t get. “But I’d still definitely take my experience over Messi’s jersey. Obviously, you want to play and do well.”
Humble Baccus mightn’t have been able to predict such an incredible rise from a relatively unknown quantity when he was announced as a St Mirren summer signing under Stephen Robinson.
But the past few months have been nothing short of spectacular for the midfielder who harbours ambitions of playing at an even higher level in the future.
However, at the core of Baccus being remains his intense family orientation as he candidly admitted his major disappointment at his family missing his World Cup involvement.
“I didn’t expect it to go the way it went,” said Baccus of his family missing out on watching him in action. “We spoke about it and it was pretty expensive to go to Qatar so I didn’t get them over which was pretty sad when I started against Argentina. I was like ‘bam’ I wish I could have experienced that moment with my family. It would have been pretty special. But I’m sure they will be at the next one or the next Asian Cup.
“I got a bit sad after the first game where I thought they should have been there to share that moment with me. As you get older you realise you probably wouldn’t be here without them. They’ve done everything for me; driving me around when I was younger, spent hours, countless amounts of petrol and money on me and taken care of me and feeding me well.
“All that little stuff you probably don’t think about when you are a young kid – you realise those moments should be shared with everyone. But you learn and hopefully next tournament.”
