{"id":1165,"date":"2026-07-19T14:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T14:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1165"},"modified":"2026-07-19T14:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T14:38:14","slug":"the-miracle-of-lionel-messi-embrace-him-and-celebrate-his-greatness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1165","title":{"rendered":"The Miracle Of Lionel Messi: Embrace Him And Celebrate His Greatness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mark Twain once said that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I would add a third: the day I met Lionel Messi<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a sticky, humid and thunderstorm-ridden day in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, back in the summer of 2023, which was Messi\u2019s arrival for Inter Miami. The night before the Leagues Cup final, which would eventually become Leo\u2019s first trophy with the club, and his 44th career title, which would become a record.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Koji Watanabe\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n

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But I was inside one of the suites at Inter Miami\u2019s former stadium, waiting for an exclusive interview with a player I had covered<\/a> \u2014 and, just like any other mortal, marveled at throughout my life and career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a football journalist, the values of objectivity are imperative foundations of our work, and it\u2019s important to never get carried away when you meet someone you admire tremendously. It also goes back to the well-known saying that you “should never meet your heroes,” some words of wisdom that were said from one legendary icon (John Lennon) to another (Mick Jagger). But I actually attribute this piece of advice more to lines from Gustave Flaubert\u2019s 1856 novel,\u00a0“Madame Bovary,”\u00a0<\/i>which read: “Don’t touch your idols: a little gold always rubs off.”<\/i><\/p>\n

But with Messi<\/a>, the gold never does.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Visionhaus\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n

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And to me, in order to be a true serviceman of the sport as a journalist, you can\u2019t just report on the beautiful game, you have to feel it. You have to live inside the skin of what it means to be a supporter, because they are the heart, the flesh and bones of a club or a national team. So to meet Messi is to represent what it would mean to any Argentinian who would give their right arm to do the same. You owe it to them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN<\/strong> Messi and me was about him and his family\u2019s happiness, now finally in Miami after leaving Paris Saint-Germain, his new life in the United States and the expectations of the next few years. And this was in the summer of 2023, not long after winning the World Cup in Qatar and months before receiving his record eighth Ballon d\u2019Or.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Messi, ever the introvert, was extremely attentive, quiet and thoughtful in his responses. This is a trait you all must know. He\u2019s not shy but rather an internal thinker. But as a kid, it was much worse in school. When he wanted to ask a teacher a question, he would need his best friend to do it for him. During his trial at Barcelona when he was 13, established stars \u2014 like Gerard Piqu\u00e9 and Cesc F\u00e0bregas, from the famed \u201887 generation \u2014 remember Messi would not speak nor ask any questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he didn\u2019t need to as they learned that everything he needed to say would be on the pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back to my encounter with Messi: I remember one point when I asked him how successful the U.S. and MLS can be when it comes to competing with the likes of Europe. His reply? “Their success is up to them.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the reason why I bring that up is because it\u2019s that type of mindset that fully encapsulates Messi, as he has always been a person who truly believes that the rewards of triumph and prosperity are only dictated by one motivating factor: himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The mural on Messi’s childhood home. (Photo by MARCELO MANERA \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n

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Messi grew up in Rosario, about 170 miles northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the city where the Argentinian flag was first raised during the War of Independence in 1812.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Messi lived in a humble neighborhood called\u00a0La Bajada, in a house built by his father and grandfather. He would play in the streets until sunset and would continuously kick the ball on the same spot of the neighbors\u2019 wall in order to get his angle perfectly right.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When he played for Newell\u2019s Old Boys, his first trip away from Argentina was to Per\u00fa and the night before the big tournament, he ate some chicken that didn\u2019t agree with him. The next morning, the head coach was worried and wanted to take him to hospital. Messi argued and said all he needed was Gatorade. He drank it, played in the tournament and single-handedly led the team to win the entire tournament.<\/p>\n

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Messi, center, with his boyhood club in Rosario. (Photo by Marcelo Manera \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n

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DESPITE ALL THE <\/strong>admiration, the stardom and attention, however \u2014 along with the fact that he is a World Cup winner, a four-time Champions League champion and has won more individual trophies than anyone in the history of the sport \u2014 Messi remains that little boy who needed growth hormones in order to keep up with his peers. Throughout his life, he was overlooked over and over again, but never ever ran away from the eternal sentiment that destiny is something\u00a0you\u00a0<\/i>determine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why he is the greatest ever. His is a journey of determination and will, mixed with the fact that what he does on the pitch is almost beyond belief.\u00a0<\/p>\n