FOOTBALL
Revisit Lionel Messi’s World Cup redemption and see a legend unfold, says Simon Barnes
“You couldn’t have scripted it” is a line of sports commentary hallowed by tradition. It’s been used at one time or another by almost everyone holding a microphone. They said it – or shouted it, rather – in response to Ian Botham’s Ashes, Steve Redgrave’s ffth gold medal, Kelly Holmes’s frst gold and Andy Murray’s frst Wimbledon. And also, to be less parochial, Lionel Messi’s last World Cup.
Of course, it’s completely wrong. Such stories are all too easy to script. We’ve been telling tales of redemption since Noah was reviled and ridiculed for building the Ark. It’s not that you couldn’t script it, it’s that you wouldn’t dare.
But in sport, these stories unfold before our wondering eyes – and it’s always a pleasure to live them all over again. With this in mind, Apple TV+ have put together a four-part documentary that tells us the story of how Messi fnally lifted that golden trophy in 2022. Messi’s World Cup: the Rise of a Legend is the title, but it’s really about the completion of a legend.
Messi left his home in Rosario, Argentina, at 13 to join Barcelona and begin his rise to become one of the best footballers the game has ever seen. He has lived abroad for most of his life, but always remained proud of his Argentinian roots, even when failure strained his relationship with football fans in his home country.
By the time he was 35 he was playing in his fourth World Cup, in Qatar. In the previous three, Argentina had often looked great, but failed to deliver, despite the excellence of their best player. In 2014, a cruel loss to Germany in the final had many thinking it would never happen for their number ten, whose load seemed to grow heavier with every tournament.
It’s one of sport’s eternal contradictions: the better you are, the more you can disappoint.
Even now, during the supposed twilight of Messi’s playing days, he still has to bear such pressure. Earlier this month, thousands of adoring fans in Hong Kong demanded a refund when injury meant he was an unused substitute in a friendly for his current club, Inter Miami. In Qatar it was more intense, as the stage was bigger and Messi was the story. This would be his last World Cup, so could he win at last?
ARGENTINA PLAYED SAUDI Arabia in their first match and were winning 1–0 at the break. Then comes the best part of the opening episode of the Apple series:
Hervé Renard, French coach of the Saudi team, howls at his players for their deference to Messi. “You want to tak
