“I can’t ask God for anything more, He gave me everything at a sporting level and the only thing I can ask for is health for my family and myself and to be able to continue enjoying all these moments with this group that has given people joy for so long.”
After scoring both goals in the victory over Austria that qualified Argentina for the next stage of the World Cup, just two days before turning 39, Lionel Messi, when asked what birthday present he would like to receive, made it clear that he has already achieved everything a player can hope for on a football field.
Born in Rosario, in the Argentine province of Santa Fé, on June 24, 1987, Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini has accumulated —so far— 48 career titles for club and country, with a World Cup trophy and four Champions League cups with Barcelona among some of the biggest highlights.
The most successful athlete in the history of football, the Argentine is also by far the one who has won the title of best player in the world the most times, with eight Ballon d’Ors, from France Football, and eight awards from FIFA — considering the period of unification of the sport’s two main awards, between 2010 and 2015.
His main antagonist over the last two decades, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo has five of each.
His protagonism at the head of the Albiceleste team, especially during the campaign towards the third championship, in Qatar, in 2022, becoming the first player in history to score in all phases of the tournament, has fueled endless discussions about his place in the pantheon of the greatest.
After becoming the greatest scorer in the history of the World Cup and being elevated by Ronaldo to the position of best in history, many fans of Brazil — and other countries — questioned the former Brazilian national team striker for allegedly relegating Pelé to a position below the Argentine.
Ronaldo himself would doubt shortly afterwards whether Messi would be ahead of Diego Armando Maradona.
The fact is that, regardless of each person’s personal and football preferences, the striker who started at Barça’s academy in the mid-2000s tutored by Ronaldinho Gaúcho and enchanted the world with his sprints and rare ability with his left foot is the greatest of his time.
And, although the end of his career is inevitably getting closer, the almost forty-year-old shows he still has fuel to burn at the highest level of the sport.
Having himself doubted his participation in the North American World Cup with the Argentine team at times, the almost forty-year-old showed in the first two matches, against Algeria and Austria, that he continues to have the physical fitness and ambition to seek new titles and records.
Third oldest player to score in the FIFA World Cup — behind only Cameroonian Roger Milla and Portuguese-Brazilian Pepe —, Messi could also become the oldest outfield player to win the competition.
If Argentina completes its second consecutive victory, the Argentine will surpass former left-back Nilton Santos, the “Football Encyclopedia”, two-time champion with the Brazilian national team, in 1962, at the age of 37.
Overall, the oldest of all is goalkeeper Dino Zoff, champion with Italy in 1982, at 40 years old.
Asked after the victory over the Austrians if he would like to win a second world title as a gift, the Argentine rejected the suggestion.
“To be honest, that would be too much to ask. What He has already given me is more than enough,” he replied. “The important thing today is to enjoy it, try as we always have — this group competes regardless of the opponent.”
With Messi concentrated together with his teammates during his birthday in Kansas City, the team’s base during the FIFA national team tournament, fans organize a huge collective congratulations to the Albiceleste number 10.
Named “#cumpleLEO”, the initiative initially suggested by Argentine journalist Rodolfo Barili is scheduled to take place at 10am (Brasília and Buenos Aires; 8am Kansas) and 10pm this Wednesday (24), with fans of the football star wishing their congratulations from wherever they are.
