The fact that we are still celebrating Lionel Messi is a testament to his brilliance. With Cristiano Ronaldo playing like someone entered a cheat code into their PlayStation, Neymar producing the kind of early season form that tempts comparisons with Ronaldinho, and Luis Suarez arriving on the scene to disrupt the party, there is enough going on in Spain without referring to the Argentine. Yet here we are, eulogising the little man once more. He refuses to go away. Of course he broke La Ligas all-time goal-scoring record in typical Messi fashion: by scoring in bunches. He equalled Telmo Zarras mark of 251 goals with a superb free-kick in the 21st minute of Barcelonas match against Sevilla on Saturday, then broke it in the 72nd minute by adding a second before completing his hat trick in Barcas 5-1 triumph. There are some, particularly in Spain, who would like nothing more than for Messi to be considered just an ordinary player. For his still exceptional 41 goals in a season to be evaluated like it is the norm, just because he didnt reach the superhuman 73 of a few years prior. For his World Cup to be deemed a failure from start to finish, despite him dragging Argentina from the group stage through to the semifinals. For the lasting image of him from that tournament to be one of a lazy player, despite Jose Mourinho (who has no reason to flatter him) concluding that the forward sacrificed the potential to produce a more outstanding individual tournament for the greater good of his national team. For those people, Messi officially becoming La Ligas greatest ever goal-scorer is a terrible blow. For the other group of observers who are simply grateful to be fortunate enough to watch him, Messis achievement is just further acknowledgment of what was already known. After all, the records only tell half the story. In 50 years people will look back and marvel at this distant and abstract figures feat of being Barcelonas, La Ligas and possibly even the Champions Leagues all-time top scorer within the same year. Yet they will never fully grasp just how special it was to observe him in the flesh. Video may provide the illusion of capturing the finest details of Messis game -- the shuffling of the ball, subtle chips or drops of the shoulder -- but the footage never truly reflects how dramatic the impact of his seemingly instant change of pace is upon the human eye. There is no substitute for the real thing. Messi is, to use the cliche, worth the price of admission. More than that, he is worth the price of admission, a flight and a hotel room if you arent lucky enough to reside in Barcelona. Zarra probably was in his day, too, but just as will be the case with Messi in 50 years, only those who were around to watch the Basques 251 league goals in the 1940s and 50s will really grasp his own particular brilliance. There are still some people left on this planet capable of saying I saw Zarra play in person as well as I saw Messi play in the flesh, but they are few. One of those few is Jose Angel Iribar, Athletics legendary goalkeeper from the 1960s and 70s, who was an impressionable 10-year-old when Zarra produced his last great scoring season in 1953. He is certain that his close friend Zarra, who died at the age of 85 in 2006, would be honoured for Messi to take the record. Zarras daughter Carmen, meanwhile, equally believes her father would have been pleased it was Messi who demoted the Basque to second place, and would have loved the Argentine as a player because he seems like a very noble person on and off the pitch. Better yet would have been for an Athletic player to manage the feat, she admits, but even Messi isnt perfect. Given it took 60 years for any footballer to match her fathers achievements full stop, it will likely be a long time before another striker of Zarras calibre comes along in the red and white shirt of Los Leones. As for the occasion itself, Barcelona fans will never admit it, but perhaps with Messis long-term legacy in mind, it is for the best that he did not break Zarras record at the Santiago Bernabeu in the midst of what is at times footballs equivalent of all-out war. Had that happened, the moment would inevitably have been used as ammunition by both sides. The victors, throwing the record in the face of the losers, the losers dissecting Messis celebrations to find a hint of arrogance with which to damage his character. El Clasico is unrivalled as a spectacle but the way it divides through incredibly deep-rooted emotional lines often turns the post- match into the most cheapening of affairs. Instead of that, Messis moment stands with a much more positive purpose: a reminder of his status as a one-off. A one-off we are fortunate enough to have been born on time to see.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 22:27:09 +0000
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