The genius of Lionel Messi could be a celebration and a lament at the same time. When he sets off on one of his silken runs with the ball, tiptoeing past rival players, he takes the millions watching him for a joyride, giving them a high few earthly things can. But for those who aspire to be a Messi one day, his skills seem to be way beyond human reach.
“De otro planeta”, they used to call him in Spain. “From another planet”, that is.
But the world, at least his followers, like to call Messi their own. They rise with his success and cry when he falls. And while it is success that we wish for our heroes, it is their failures which reaffirm that they are, after all, mortals like us. The conscious mind may never want them to fail, but subconsciously that is what creates the eternal bond between the idol and his fans.
From that perspective, it is perhaps not that bad that Messi missed a penalty during the game against Austria in Dallas on Monday. The Messi and Argentina fans may be up in arms for saying that, but think about it... If he had scored from that penalty, would that have made him any more of a Messi than he already is? Or, upon missing that chance, has it taken away even an ounce from his monumental achievements?
The answer to both questions, most probably, would be a resounding ‘no’.
The statistics of it will tell a different tale. It was the 38-year-old’s third miss from the spot (excluding shootouts) on seven attempts spread across World Cups. It’s the worst, they say. Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan held that unwanted record, but now it belongs to Messi. Fair enough, he has missed the most penalties. But so what?
The part of that bit of statistics that usually goes undiscussed is the fact that Argentina have turned to him every time they have got a penalty at the World Cup since 2006. Imagine the weight of expectations the little man has carried on his slender shoulders all these years!
That he, too, can fail despite his otherworldly football skills is a lesson for everyone — footballer and non-footballer, fan or no fan — that failure is as much a part of a journey as success. Being the best doesn’t mean you are not allowed to slip on your bad day.
The temptation of going into the science of ‘why does Messi miss penalties?’ perhaps needs to be ignored. It may work for others, but not for this man.
Most of the experts, especially former footballers, who are better equipped to comment on the Argentine’s genius, rather believe in embracing the whole of Messi, refusing to dissect his craft into good and bad.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a much sought-after striker in his playing days, summed it up excellently while looking into on Messi’s exploits.
Speaking to FOX Sports after the Argentina-Austria game, Ibrahimovic said: “You have moments where he looks human by missing the penalty. Then you have the moments when he doesn’t look human. That’s Messi.”
What the former Sweden international perhaps meant is that it is the whole that
matters. In Messi’s universe, a goal and a miss perhaps
travel in the same orbit and yet they don’t collide. They complement.
Messi will be 39 today. While it is not impossible for him to play at another World Cup, he probably won’t do it. And even if Argentina fail to keep the world title, Messi will remain an unmatched champion.
“I don’t think there’s any debate left now. When you become the all-time top scorer in World Cup history, win the thing, dominate it across different generations, and keep producing at 38 years of age, what more do people want?
“Messi’s numbers, longevity, and trophies put him in a category of his own,” Zlatan, nicknamed “Ibracadabra” for his spectacular playing style, said.
Xavi Hernandes, Messi’s former teammate at Barcelona, has called him “the Michael Jordan of football”. But Jordan, a giant, was not perfect. It’s better that way.
