"The Little boy from Rosario, Santa Fe, has just pitched up in heaven"- Peter Drury
After losing 4 finals in a row, from a national hero, Lionel Messi became the biggest national failure in Argentina. Despite a decorated club career, Messi had failed to bring joy to his nation. A nation with a rich history in football, a nation which witnessed greatness in late Diego Maradona, was expecting Messi to become the torchbearer in Making Argentina proud in global stage once again.
The country had waited 36 years without
winning the World cup. It was upto Messi to bring joy to his fellow
country-men.
Messi tried. With his extraordinary
performance, he took his team to the World cup final in 2014. But alas, it was
not to be his day. Argentina's long waited joy came short when Mario Gotze,
from Germany scored a late Winner to snatch victory from Argentina. Thousands
of fans of Argentina all over the world cried with him.
Then came the Copa America final in 2016.
Despite great performances in the tournament, Messi failed again. He missed a
penalty in the tiebreaker, making Chile the winners of 2016 Copa
America.
Messi's long waited dream of winning trophy
with Argentina came short once again. This time he was devastated. He felt he
could not bring joy to his fellow country-men. With great grief in his heart,
he retired from international football.
With this retirement, people scrutinised him.
They were criticizing him, making him the biggest national failure in the
world. Messi, being hurt with this, he wanted to prove himself once again in
the global stage. He came back from retirement and started to prepare for world
cup 2018.
But, World cup 2018 did not go as planned.
Argentina failed in the quarter final against the French golden generation, who
went on to win the tournament. This time, people of Argentina started to lose
hope. They started doubting that, Messi lacked leadership and he was not
capable of bringing joy to Argentina.
Few years had passed. Messi got another
opportunity to win a Trophy with Argentina in the form of 2021 Copa America.
With age catching him up slowly, Messi had to become a leader of a new
Argentine team.
Messi, brought his best self in the
tournament. Again, with great performances, he took his team to the final, this
time against ultimate rival, Brazil. Even being injured, Messi played the
final, motivated his team. And his young team was ready to die for him.
Argentina beat Brazil in the final. Thousands of fans in the Stadium of Marcana
witnessed greatness infront of their eyes. A man's unwaivering determination
dethroned the previous Copa champion Brazil. Messi and Argentina's long waited
dream of becoming champion came true. This time it was not the tear of grief,
it was the tear of joy. People from all over the world, cheered for him.
Now came the ultimate test, The 2022 Fifa
World Cup. Can Messi do it in his final world cup?
Argentina went on to the tournament as
favourites. But soon, they came to reality when they lost their first match
against Saudi Arabia. But, Messi did not lose hope. He captained his team,
lead from the front and with great performances, Argentina went on to the final
once again. This time Against France, the previous champion. Messi had to prove
himself. It was his final battle. This time, he had the support of the people
of Argentina, people of Bangladesh and people of all over the world, praying
for him. He had to do it for Argentina, he had to do it for the people who
loved him all those years. Most importantly, he had to do it for himself.
With great display of football from both of the teams, Argentina finally won the greatest final ever in the world cup. Messi
with the help of his teammates finally won in the global stage. Finally, Messi
proved his doubters wrong.
Seeing Messi lifting the world cup after all
those struggles and failures, brought the tears of joy. It was Messi's battle,
but it was not Messi's win alone. Football won that day, sheer determination
won that day, a country waiting for 36 years to lift the world cup, won that
day.
The day Messi retired from international
Football, little did he know, he would conquer football 6 years later. Finally,
Messi found that little piece of gold, to complete Football. Messi did not
become Maradona that his country always wanted, he became
"The Messi" of Argentina that day of
which late Diego Maradona would also be proud of.
The “Little boy from Rosario” on behalf of every little boy wearing his shirt finally reached his dream. A fairytale end to this Story. My parents told me about Robert Bruce, I will tell my child and grandchild about the man "Lionel Andres Messi", who did not lose hope.
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