They have always called him call la pulga – the flea – because of the way he skims and skips across the course of a game, barely detectable, though the Lionel Messi we witnessed on Tuesday night was el toro, barrelling and bouncing through challenges, looking for them, as drove Argentina into the final which has always seemed his destiny.
The clips of him that were playing on the Lusail Boulevard, the noisy, iridescent walkway they’ve built a few hundred yards from this place, captures a purer form of Messi, with the ball at his feet, though a more raw and physical version of the player lives in the mind’s eye today.
It was perhaps most graphic in the moment he fought to take a ball back towards the end of the first half, when Croatia’s uncompromising RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol – who was supposed to be what his name suggests – had just taken it from him.
Talisman Lionel Messi drove Argentina into the World Cup final on Tuesday night
Messi simply stood in the space to which a subsequent pass was hit, so it cannoned into his head, and then remained, back to Gvardiol, in a stance which told that would not be surrendering it.
The stars aren’t all that is aligning for Argentina. The officials were also helpful last night. Only referee, Daniele Orsato, can explain how Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was supposed to avoid Julian Alvarez when he conceded the penalty. But the look on Messi’s face when he grabbed the golden ball they’ve created for this stage of the tournament did not look like it would brook any argument. His kick took him past Gabriel Batistuta as the scorer of most World Cup goals for Argentina.
It’s been a different kind of Messi Argentina has seen here and the scenes in this stadium last Friday night, when he taunted and berated the Dutch after beating them – something closer to the manner of Diego Maradona – revealed as much.
The Argentina star holds off Croatia’s uncompromising defender Josko Gvardio
Back in Buenos Aires, there hasn’t been such universal certainty about his actions that night. La Nacion, the respected daily title in the capital, said of Messi after those scenes that ‘the extraordinary footballer could not contain the vulgar man.’ It was the opinion of the paper’s sports editor Cristian Gross that ‘knowing how to win is the true measure of conduct and values.’
It’s a minority view of course. For those singing the Muchachos anthem of hope and optimism, which has been ringing around this city for nearly four weeks, his aggression is the sign of different kind of leadership. The leadership which saw him lead the team out into the warm-up last night, just as he has for every game along this road, and speak to every player individually on the field before the game began.
There’s always been someone senior to him in Argentina on this high stage: Roman Riquelme in 2006, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Mascherano in 2010, when Maradona was the coach and figurehead. In 2014, Messi was captain, though Mascherano was the real leader. In 2018, there was no leader at all. Now, at last, Messi is that man.
Messi skipped past Gvardiol down the touchline before playing in Alvarez for the finish
In 1986, Maradona hauled a team of young and lesser players up that mountain to the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, for the triumph which Argentina has waited 36 years, and last night there were further echoes of that.
It’s not always fully appreciated what he brings from those whom you would not expect to be stars on this stage. So often on this journey it has been Alexis Mac Allister, though on Tuesday night it was Julian Alvarez whom Messi helped to shine.
The 22-year-old striker has admitted he’s found it hard to adapt to the Premier League at Manchester City. Opponents sit deep, allowing him less scope to get in behind defenders. He finds so many players around him that time is too scare. There’s also been the not insignificant matter of being Erling Haaland’s understudy. City do rate him. At £14million from River Plate, Alvarez looked some piece of business last night.
Messi looks towards the sea of blue supporting his team during the semi-final in Qatar
It was Alvarez’s pass which sent Messi off down the right touchline with Gvardiol in pursuit to produce the night’s outstanding moment. He beat the Croatian three times. The Croatian fouled him twice. But the hand of a 6ft 1in defender on his shoulder was a minor irrelevance. The little bull barged on, down and around the dead ball line – intuiting that Alvarez was there, in his peripheral vision, and laying a pass that the striker eased home.
At the end Messi, stared out into the vast sea of blue and white that will assemble here again on Sunday, singing the Muchachos that the Argentina players have adopted as their own anthem. It translates as: ‘Boys, we have our hopes up again.’
The little bull has made that so.
Diego Maradona hauled a team of young and lesser players to World Cup glory in 1986
