New Delhi, June 21 -- Sleepless nights, bleary eyes, football hangover - this has been a pattern for well over a week now. And then come bursts of brilliance, three in a row, sending fans into a tizzy. Was that grease lightning or was that brain fade? No, it was Lionel Messi kicking the football left and right, producing three goals for Argentina against Algeria in the 2026 FIFA World Cup opener.
Everyone saw it; everyone has a viewpoint on it. Those who detest Messi say he is a cheat, that FIFA loves him the most, and that fouls are overlooked. A red card was the demand. The more uncharitable said Messi cries, without realising his father is unwell. Pray, are humans not allowed to feel low when they are dealing with emotions, or are they just supposed to function like robots?
OK, before you think this is dragging on too long as an intro, I will go back to the words of Muhammad Ali. He declared himself "The Greatest". Did Ali need to do it? No, he did not. But then, Ali was different, the most powerful heavyweight boxer who wanted to brag.
Will Messi do it? No, Leo is different.
Those who think Messi messed with the rules of the game against Algeria and deserved to be hauled up can watch CR7 - Cristiano Ronaldo - who plays football for himself, not Portugal. At the risk of sounding too much like a Leo Messi fan and not being objective, let me tell you, the Argentine star, who turns 39 on June 24, is already beyond comparison. You can use databases, you can use ChatGPT and more AI, but common intelligence tells you Messi is the greatest and leaves the rest behind by miles.
Back to the magic against Algeria, he did everything that was needed to light up this World Cup. Sports need heroes; sports need icons. As much as Spain looked constipated, their tight defence in the opener was a sad sight. Football fans wanted to see real action. Messi provided it, all on his own, scoring field goals, not converting penalties. That alone defines him. Messi did not close in on Miroslav Klose's record tally of 16 goals in the World Cup; he will certainly go much farther ahead. There is so much more for the Argentine to achieve.
Frankly speaking, this business of comparing past greats with present stars is simply academic. No era can be compared with another. Sport is not constant; sport is flux. It is changing every day, every week, every month, every year. What Pele did, we appreciate and love. Sadly, Brazil's football team can now cry, as the standard of football they produce these days is low. We can compare Messi with Diego Maradona, but that would also be wrong. Maradona was loved and hated; he produced outrageous stuff on the football field. At the same time, his personal life was in shambles. He did drugs, he flunked a famous dope test, boozed and even puffed cigars. No way can he be a role model.
So, back to The Greatest. Messi will not call himself one. He was emotional before this World Cup and he will continue to play with flair, feel and fluency throughout the tournament. Messi has already achieved greatness, as Argentina won the World Cup in 2022. He has already produced a hat-trick that left you in a daze. After that, you did not need coffee cups to keep you awake. At the same time, Messi's first hat-trick in a World Cup served as a reminder that he is mocking his own age. By now, he should have slowed down; skills alone would not have sufficed.
When we saw the first Lionel Messi, two decades ago in his first World Cup, he was young, with long hair flowing. To be competing hard in a sixth World Cup, this is divinity that needs to be respected. How many miles has Messi run on the football turf? How many times has he looked so invincible? And what is that magic, left and right, which leaves even a danseuse marvelling at his steps? Oh Messi, please don't stop. Forget the trolls; they are messed up and can only be negative. Look at the English media. OK, the Three Lions won big against Croatia, but do they have any business drawing "fouls" on a newspaper and saying Messi sells and brings FIFA deals? This has to be the most outrageous stuff.
In an age when everything is live and replays are seen again and again, watch the hat-trick. Do not look for Messi indulging in foul play. If God has given you eyes, see beauty, not imaginary ugly things. All this will not hurt Messi. He has nothing left to prove. And for those who crib that they have not got to see Messi versus CR7 on the field, please, you cannot watch a Ferrari racing against an old Maruti.
We will leave the "Greatest Of All Time" arguments to folks who treat sports as something that can be quantified and analysed, as if it is foolproof and being done in a laboratory. Whether Messi is the GOAT or still has things to prove, seeing is believing. He is a winner, he is a charmer, and he will go down as a player who did stuff that no other "great player" did before. Debate over. Messi forever.
Away from the magic of Lionel Messi, Argentina and the South American flavour, it was a delight to see Cape Verde play solid football against Spain. Competing in the World Cup for the first time, Cape Verde were just too good. To be so calm and hold Spain to a goalless draw is like climbing Mount Everest minus oxygen support. And then there was the man who was in tears, 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha. He was upset because his mother could not fly into the United States of America. We hear she has now been cleared, but the talking point is that this man in his 40s was not even a professional footballer until he was 25. How did Vozinha learn to be such a good goalkeeper? How does a small nation produce such efforts? There are so many lessons for a nation like India.
People are thumping their chests and asking why India cannot one day play in the FIFA World Cup. Forget it. We do not have a football structure, there are no coaches, and the sport has dipped so low that Indian football needs not one but several miracles to rise. There are no good coaches in India. The foreign coaches who come to India come, make money and leave. It does no good. The Indian football team cannot even do well in friendlies, even in the South Asian region, forget the World Cup. Unless there is a collective will, unless good samaritans ensure good tournaments and provide the right direction, Indian football will languish. You can keep shedding tears during each World Cup; after that, it is a closed chapter.
To see Iran fly into Los Angeles, draw against New Zealand and then fly out again was crazy. Everyone knows how hard it is for a nation like Iran to play football when there is war at home. We have heard again and again that the war is over, but how do the players prepare under such hard conditions? Whoever in FIFA scheduled the matches, flying Iran into Los Angeles from Mexico was madness. Worse, after the match, there was no scope for recovery in a hotel room. The team was flown out again, back to Mexico. This is inhuman, yet there is no one who speaks up for Iran. If they are not needed in the USA, make them play elsewhere. What has happened to Iran is simply unfair.
There is a crisis in the USA for many reasons vis-a-vis the World Cup. Surely, if they are so worried that the Iran team staying in Los Angeles will cause problems, isolate a whole hotel and let them rest and recover there. These players are not terrorists, for God's sake, nor are they part of the regime in Iran. The World Cup cannot be so unfair. Yes, if you have a crazy situation in the USA where one player gestures at the crowd as if he is going to shoot, do not tolerate it. Rightly, Mohammed Mohebi was pulled up, but not deported, as speculated on social media.
PS: If you want to enjoy the FIFA World Cup, forget all viewpoints. Just relax and catch the action if you are passionate.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.