Lionel Andres Messi is a legendary determine in his hometown of Rosario. The prodigal son who will hope to win the largest prize of all. Essentially the most well-known footballer in a metropolis pleased with its capability to supply footballers on an industrial scale. Di Maria, Lavezzi, Mascherano, Lavezzi, Demichelis, Maxi Rodriguez, Garay, Banega, pochettino, Batistuta, Heinze, Valdano, Lo Celso, Angel Correa.
Rosario is pleased with him, even when they by no means see him within the flash.
The recollections of a thin little boy enjoying child futbol for Gandoli or Newell’s Outdated Boys is the stuff of legend. Everybody has some story of watching a really younger Lionel dominating soccer matches in Rosario.
Lionel Messi shall be seeking to win his first and remaining World Cup on Sunday afternoon
‘Leo was a pleasure to observe. We performed towards older boys but it surely did not matter. He was unstoppable and no person may take the ball away from him,’ says Mauro Formica, who performed with Messi at Newell’s Outdated Boys, the crew Lionel helps.
Messi goes to Rosario twice a 12 months. He spends Christmas together with his household within the metropolis and some weeks when the footballing season ends.
One other legend about him within the metropolis is his go to to Membership de la Milanesa, a restaurant that serves his favorite and typical Argentine dish: a milanese steak. He has been seen typically by a number of fortunate followers getting into and leaving the place. However he is aware of it is unattainable to spend so much time anyplace within the metropolis. It will be chaos.
Nonetheless, he must battle it out with Kylian Mbappe to get his arms on the trophy
Many vacationers, throughout holidays, go to Cafe VIP, a restaurant close to the Flag Monument, probably the most iconic symbols of Rosario. The place belongs to his father, Jorge.
However it’s not straightforward to search out anybody linked to the household there. Lionel is nearly unattainable. Virtually. One fortunate fan had success weeks earlier than the World Cup of 2014.
Messi signed a card with the picture of the trophy and wrote ‘prometo traerla’ (I promise to deliver it house). A promise unfulfilled till now. As we speak’s World Cup remaining towards France could possibly be his final likelihood.
Lionel owns two non-public villas within the metropolis. He additionally owns two flooring of an workplace constructing close to the Parana River, within the east finish of town.
The home the place he grew up, on the State of Israel highway, a slender avenue within the poor South of Rosario, nonetheless belongs to the household however is at all times closed. Neighbours say Matias, one of many Lionel’s brothers, nonetheless lives there, however he would not reply the door. He was arrested twice carrying a gun illegally.
Graffitis of Messi carrying Argentina’s shirt are in every single place. For almost all, he is the nice ambassador of Rosario. However this isn’t a unanimous opinion. It is not laborious to search out individuals who assume Lionel ought to do extra for town and now, close to the tip of his profession, ought to fulfil the promise of returning house to play for Newell’s.
‘Some individuals have unrealistic expectations about Lionel. Possibly they assume he needs to be their neighbour, an individual who’s daily within the metropolis. He lives in a special nation, have a life in Europe. They count on an excessive amount of,’ says Lucas Scaglia, a former team-mate at Newell’s and cousin of Antonella Rocuzzo, Messi’s spouse.
Whether or not Messi wins the World Cup or not, the individuals of Rosario will nonetheless be pleased with him
Since Argentina gained the Copa America final 12 months, the nationwide humour shifted. Individuals imagine within the nationwide crew and imagine in Messi. Till then, there was a touch of suspicion. The query was at all times the identical: why he did not play as effectively for Argentina as he performed for Barcelona?
There have been accusations: he would not care about his nation, he would not sing the nationwide anthem earlier than matches. He isn’t Argentine. He is Spanish. He left when he was 13, a child who cried his eyes out in the course of the flight to Barcelona, afraid of a brand new life and of leaving his mates behind. However his sons are Spanish. They communicate Catalan. There’s the hearsay that he intends to reside in Barcelona after his retirement. This thought stings individuals in his hometown. To them, Messi belongs to Rosario. Not Barcelona.
‘It was a very long time in the past, however many individuals nonetheless bear in mind the participant he was as child, when he was 11, 12 years previous. It was ridiculous. We had a robust crew at Newell’s however when Lionel arrived, we had been unbeatable and he scored a great deal of objectives,’ says Sergio Almiron, supervisor of novice groups on the membership Messi performed earlier than leaving for Barcelona.
Messi turned a lot greater than town that among the former teammates solely discuss to the press for a price. All of them have tales in regards to the participant who as soon as, throughout half-time of a match that includes the skilled Newell’s crew, did keepie-uppies within the centre circle. Proper foot, left foot, head, shoulder, thigh, again heels with out dropping the ball. Hundreds of individuals contained in the Marcelo Bielsa’s Stadium began to scream:
Messi goes to Rosario twice a 12 months. He spends Christmas together with his household within the metropolis
‘Maradona! Maradona!’
‘It was merely unbelievable,’ remembers Bruno Millanesio, a midfielder who performed with Lionel on the membership academy.
Those that shared dressing rooms with him do not recall him as a shy child, opposite to the favored picture of him. They discuss a well mannered however humorous child. The one who took different boys to do keepie-uppies in entrance of automobiles to earn some cash to purchase Coca-Cola, which he cherished.
‘There was a match when his marker was fouling Leo each time he touched the ball. So he determined to humiliate his opponent. His marker couldn’t discover him anymore. Leo would cross by him with out touching the ball. There was a second when he nutmegged the poor lad twice in a row, in the identical play,’ says Sergio Maradona, one other lad who performed with him at Newell’s.
That crew was nicknamed the ‘1987 machine’ and went unbeaten for 3 years. In 2000, the 12 months Messi travelled to Barcelona, they gained the championship so simply that the league resolve one thing needed to be carried out. If any crew had a six-goal benefit, the match needed to be stopped. Just one crew the week after did that: Newell’s Outdated Boys.
Messi is a legendary determine in Rosario additionally due to a promise that he by no means made: to return someday to play professionally for Newell’s. No person ever heard him saying that. It was talked about as soon as by Jorge Messi, his father. It was sufficient. When he left Barcelona, a part of Rosario needed him to return house, as an alternative of Paris.
It was not cheap to count on that. However some won’t ever quit and nonetheless need to see Messi with the black and purple shirt of Newell’s Outdated Boys, ideally with a World Cup win to his identify.
