Big wins are sometimes followed by big lows. Ten years ago, 29 years old Lionel Messi – with eight La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and five out of eight Ballon d’Or awards in his bag during his time at Barcelona – decided that was enough for him to be in pain.“It’s over for me, it’s over. I’ve tried hard but it’s not happening,” Messi, crestfallen and his psyche was broken, announced that “the end” came with the penalty he missed in the defeat of Chile in the Copa America final in New Jersey, extending his problems to the last four lost by the national team – in the World Cup 2014 and the 2014 World Cup against America and Germany. 2016). “It hurts me not to be a champion with Argentina,” he explained his disappointment to all, his face showing the despair of a tortured soul.The world received the news with shock and horror, with some calling it ‘Mexit’ and many urging him not to continue as social media was flooded with the hashtags #NoTeVayasMessi and #QuedateMessi. Diego Maradona he also came to his support, encouraging him to “fight against all those who left him;By the time La Albiceleste assembled two months later for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela he had returned, saying he liked Argentina “too much” to leave the team. The rest, as they say, is history. He finally climbed into World Cup lore in 2022 – a crown with peace of mind in the colors of La Albiceleste – between two Copa America titles (in 2021 and 2024), and the legend of Messi was born in his birthplace of Rosario, elsewhere in Argentina and everywhere in the world.However, the burden of being Messi in the Argentinian psyche has always been complex and simple. His future has been linked to Maradona ever since Rosario’s son decided to leave Argentina and carve out his own legacy as a Barcelona player. What emerges is a rich portrait of the bond between two World Cup-winning captains, always moving around his weakness. As England faces Argentina in the World Cup again, the question remains: How would Messi-replaced by Maradona and his legacy be?Forty years ago, when the two countries clashed, it caused earthquakes in world football when sport, national identity and the shadow of war collided in the quarter-final of the 1986 World Cup at the Azteca stadium. This was the match where Maradona’s magnum opus was played with all the magic and evil of Argentina. The ‘Hand of God’ concept was forged, leading to conflict and mistrust between the two groups four years after the Falklands War. Maradona’s second came as a moment of catharsis.However, the quarter of 1986 would not be as difficult and confusing as Messi, who was born three years after the Falklands war, would have been ready to endure on the way to the fulfillment of his destiny in Lusail, 2022.Messi’s march to become the master of his legacy does not have the distraction of Maradona and that is why he can be comfortable in renewing the magic second phase of his Azteca mentor.It is true that the second semifinal at the Atlanta Stadium is not based on any idea of ​​Malvinas, but it comes with its own clear point of view. It is “special” for Messi because it is the first against England, which gives us a glimpse of how an entire generation has not seen La Albiceleste cross swords with the Three Lions since 1986.For the Argentine, Maradona will always be a rebel and a redeemer. The unknown and accidental manager Lionel Scaloni took over the team that changed after the 2018 World Cup and made Messi leave the group of ‘saviors’ and brought out hungry players and the mentality that we play-Messi. One day, Leandro Parades said, “We also play for him, because we don’t want the day to come when this is his last game with us.“Pablo Aimar, Scaloni’s assistant, was also hailed as the next great number 10 after Maradona and failed to get the brand on the line.They will suffer together and make Argentina great again. Maybe in a way a tad un-Maradona.
