Messi, his genius and a maturity that shines like a true sun

It is not true that Messi “did not play as well before as he does now in the National Team” and it is reckless and with too wide a margin of error to say that “this is the best Messi”.

There is no way to establish such a forceful definition, not even when the floor of the Ahmad Bin Ali stadium still bears the marks of his endless football art. You can’t because it’s unfair, because there was always a great Messi. Even when he was maliciously disapproved in Santa Fe, in the forgettable Copa América in 2011, Leo was the most visible victim of a process that had neither head nor tail. And only that. At the same time, and a few days before, Messi won the Champions League that year at Wembley, giving a real exhibition. I mean by this that the selection, its organization and the context did not always accompany it. Nevertheless, Leo always managed to get us out of the hole, to give us a hand and rescue us from complex situations.

This was seen in 2014: goal against Bosnia, goal against Iran, goals against Nigeria, pass goal to Di María against Switzerland. Even in the chaos of 2018, he scored a decisive goal for Nigeria, in a terminal game. Now, at 35, he is accompanied by a group of footballers who, perhaps for now, lose in comparison with the previous generation. But Lionel Scaloni managed to seduce Messi in the best way: with an idea and with a style. Leo knows that if DT decides to change from two to three centrals, it is because there were people at the bank who made a correct reading of what was happening. There are no discussions, there is no annoyance, there is no internal opinion even. Leo knows that each step taken by the National Team has a meaning and a solid argument that explains it.

Against Australia he did it again. Once again the team was in a complicated lethargy. The fatigue carried over from the game against Poland was altering the initial plan and the Australians, with a little, had the ball. There were no visits to Dibu Martínez, but if the rival has the ball and they can’t get it out, there will be little chance that Argentina can score a goal. Then comes the Messi Minute. It was, he fought a ball in the flank, won a winger and upset his occasional adversary, Aziz Behich. That anger generated a subsequent foul, a free kick, a rebound, a touch from Mac Allister, a long control from Otamendi and a new management from Messi that ended in a wonderful goal, passing the ball through several Australian legs and away from Ryan, the hidden archer who was late to everything.

That goal, like the one he scored against Mexico, served to rearrange, so that the decks return to the deck and are distributed more calmly. But that peace, once again, had been given to him by his leader, the guy who thinks for him and for everyone and who, at 35, continues to uncover each and every one of soccer’s secrets.

Dibu Martinez comes from another factory, although, like Messi 20 years ago, he went from the lower ranks of an Argentine club (in this case, Independiente) to a great European club, Arsenal in England. There he learned the modern goalkeeper’s manual from start to finish, which includes, unlike those of before, a mandatory correct reading of the game, courage in making decisions, virtuous play with his feet, being in possible reception areas of some return of his companions and, of course, have the necessary leg strength and agility to fly towards the required destination. To what he learned at Pepé Santoro’s school, he was putting new pages.

The kid from Mar del Plata has all of that. He was picking it up on his English journey, hard at the beginning, difficult without the neighborhood and familiar smells, but with a lot of dedication and perseverance. His arrival in the First Division, his decision to leave Arsenal to continue at Aston Villa, were decisive. Scaloni and his scouting team had already detected it and, despite the fact that Franco Armani had no major flaws to think about taking him out, the DT knew that Dibu should play. It was about time. It may sound unfair, but the COVID that affected Armani opened the gap for Dibu and he is still there. Precisely, his self-demand is what is leading him -as it led Messi before- to play at levels that are exceeded day by day. Unlike Leo — the positions are incomparable, obviously — Dibu Martinez is required from time to time.

Before playing against Australia, Argentina was the team that had received the fewest shots on goal (11). Two of those shots ended in goals in the loss against Saudi Arabia. Dibu did not forgive him (“they kicked me twice and they scored two goals”) and sought help from his psychologist. That calmed him down, he put it back. Being a player of these times, Dibu knows that the head plays a fundamental role in the life of high-performance athletes. By not endangering his place, he has one less problem, but that doesn’t solve everything. In addition, Dibu knows that he is facing a unique opportunity, with a group that respects him and blindly trusts him.

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Against Australia, Dibu had conceded another goal, now conceded after Enzo Fernández unintentionally corrected a shot from Irvine that went anywhere. “Three shots, three goals”, this competitive beast must have thought. I imagine that it was there when he decided to lower the blind –if this were possible in a goalkeeper– and, in the seventh minute of the seven that the referee added, Dibu Martínez mixed the classic and the modern in terms of goalkeepers and he blocked a goal shot from the young Australian Garang Kuol in a phenomenal way, avoiding an uncomfortable half-hour extra time that for our team, perhaps, would have been physically and mentally fatal. For this reason, the hug, the kisses, the screams at the end, with Otamendi and Lisandro Martinez. Because Dibu Martinez was vital to win the game.

Leo Messi and Dibu Martinez, each one in their own time, each one in their area, each one in their own, guided them to a notable victory, achieved with a diminished physical team, but with heart, soul and talent well in tune with the emotion they provoked in all of us.