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Lionel Messi did it. 16 years after their first participation in World Cups. 36 since the last time the Argentine team had achieved it, with the leadership of Diego Armando Maradona. Having won every title possible in club and national team football, both individually and collectively. He was only missing one. He only wanted one. And in Lusail, he finally won the World Cup. Over the years, from his magic on the pitch and the strong desire he felt to get his hands on that last trophy, He earned the respect and even the affection of some of the greatest exponents of sport in general, and football in particular.. And many of them remembered him at the time of his consecration.
The number 10 has had few foreign admirers over time more enthusiastic than the former English footballer Gary LinekerThe author of the discount in that legendary match against Argentina in Mexico 1986 covered the Qatar World Cup for the BBC with the Rioplatense Pablo Zabaleta, former teammate of the Flea in the national team, and could not hide his joy when the national team Lionel Scaloni confirmed the feat: “The greatest game I have ever seen…and the right result. The best team won,” the former Leicester City and Tottenham player said on his social media, before dedicating a message exclusively to Messi: “It has been an absolute privilege to watch Lionel Messi for almost two decades. Moment after moment of captivating, jovial football that doesn't let you take a break. He is a gift from the football Gods.. I am delighted that you have won the highest award in our sport,” he wrote, closing in Spanish: “Thank you and congratulations, champion.”.
It's been an absolute privilege to watch Lionel Messi for nearly 2 decades. Moment after moment of spellbinding, breathtakingly joyous football. He's a gift from the footballing Gods. So pleased that he's lifted the ultimate prize in our sport. Thank you and congratulations, champion. pic.twitter.com/XTiZUcovLI
Lineker was not the only former player who dedicated himself to honouring Messi. Alan Shearer, historical scorer of the era Premier League English football's top scorer with 260 goals, wrote in his column in The Athletic an ode to the World Cup of the Argentine and the Kylian Mbappé, in which he states that “There is no room for discussion anymore” that the Flea is the “best there was” in the sport. The historic forward continues his note thanking both figures and teams “for giving us what they gave us, for their extraordinary refusal to be outdone and so it felt like the symmetry of a change of testimony,” and argues that, despite Mbappé’s dazzling performance, it felt “appropriate” that Messi prevailed: “I said before the match that I believed it was written in the stars that the greatest of them all would eventually shine, and so it did, but I didn't expect fate to challenge him and mock him the way it did.. We weren’t expecting a miracle, but it came to us.”
Who also did not forget the Flea was Ronaldinho, one of his mentors during his early years in Barcelona and with whom he established a strong friendship that continues to this day. Their warm relationship was reflected in the publication that the Brazilian, also world champion in 2002 with Brazil, made in his Instagram stories: “Congratulations, bro! You deserve it so much!”.
In a very similar vein was the message from the other great Brazilian player who forged a close friendship with Messi, Neymar. “Congratulations, brother”, wrote the man who was eliminated in the quarter-finals in Qatar, after losing to Croatia on penalties. The third member of Barcelona's “MSN” trident, Luis Suarez, with whom the 10 shared a video call in the Argentine locker room, and then sent him another message of support: “Congratulations, my friend, you are world champion! Say what you will, you are and will be the best.”.
A post shared by Luis Suárez (@luissuarez9)
The cheers were not limited to players who had been teammates of the Flea, but also to historic rivals. None was more celebratory than Toni Kroos, player of real Madrid and winner of Leo's Argentina in the final of Brazil 2014, with the German team: “He deserves it. As for individual performances in a championship, I have never seen a footballer play as consistently as this kid.", the midfielder said in statements to Magenta TV, and then left a curious definition to reinforce his point: "You have to take into account that he has never played for clubs that I really like., something that proves that I mean it.”
And although it is not a rival in the literal sense of the word, someone who has competed directly with Messi, the word of someone like Pele, who “fights” alongside the 10 to occupy the same prestigious places, takes on a lot of relevance: “Messi won his first World Cup, as his career deserved", acknowledged the three-time world champion, whose health has deteriorated in recent weeks but remains under medical care.Diego [Maradona] is surely smiling now. Congratulations, Argentina!”.
A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer)
Messi also had the support of athletes who also left their mark in other sports, outside of football. One of the first to send his congratulations was none other than Roger Federer, who described Argentina's triumph as something "emerged from a fairy tale” and he did not skimp on praise on his Instagram account: “You have redefined greatness over and over again. It is a privilege to see you. Congratulations Leo and Argentina, this is special and historic.”. Novak Djokovic He did not use words, but a strong image in his stories on the same social network to express his admiration, while Andy Murray, a constant admirer of the Flea during this World Cup, asked a profound question on his Twitter account: “Is Messi the greatest athlete of all time? Let's just forget about football. What a man."
Is messi the best athlete of all time? Forget just football. What a man.
The veneration also reached basketball, where the great LeBron James acknowledged the greatness of the Flea using a goat emoji, referring to the “greatest of all time” (“the best of all time”), and also to the world of athletics, in which Usain Bolt, the world record holder for the 100-meter race, watched the match wearing an Argentine jersey and described the final as “the best World Cup final ever.” Even the boxer Canelo Alvarez, the center of controversy after an unusual clash with Argentine fans following Mexico's defeat against the Albiceleste, greeted the champions: “Congratulations Argentina, you deserved it", he wrote on Twitter.
Congratulations Argentina, you deserved it 🫶
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