After Messi's win in the World Cup, one might wonder, why even talk about it anymore? Messi won, he didn't score one but two goals in the World Cup final and had a key pass in the third goal, so, why bring it up? My answer to that is Messi, the man who won the World Cup, still remembers. Three days before the final, Messi said

It is no longer only the result but the road we have travelled. Before in Argentina, it was valued to win or lose, but I think people now value other things.

Hernán Casciari, the famed Argentinian writer and content creator who wrote the article, Messi Is A Dog

He talked during a podcast about his feelings as an Argentinian immigrant in Catalunya. He also talked about his shock upon hearing and reading about what people in Argentina were doing and saying when it came to Messi. He talked about all the name-calling and shirt-burning. He also talked about hearing Messi talking in a press conference about how his son came to him and asked "why do they want to kill you in Argentina?". It is a beautiful podcast, it has English subtitles on Youtube, the link will be provided at the end of this post along with the sources I used to write this series.

Anyway, Messi sent him a voice note about his reaction to hearing him, the link for that will also be provided below. Messi said that when he heard what he said, he and his wife cried. Simply because what Casciari said was honest and emotional. Messi himself, while having won the World Cup, hasn't forgotten what was said about him since 2010.

My Series About The Price Of The World Cup Is Also Emotional

Some people said that my series was an attempt to undervalue the emotions of people. It is the opposite, my series didn't lack emotions, it was just focused on the emotions of others. Messi's fans can just share a picture of Messi sleeping with the World Cup trophy and end any debate. But, as far as Messi is concerned, it's difficult to undo the damage of 12 years of abuse.

I tried to get inside the head of a man who was merely his country's tool to get what they wanted, the World Cup, at any price, even if it meant stomping on his emotions, inner peace, humanity, and even his love for his country. It is extremely disrespectful to say "It doesn't matter, we won the cup" when the man who won in himself is still crying upon hearing a podcast.

The Problem is the Fans

As fans are concerned, this was a beautiful, romantic story that they will tell for years to come. But, this story was filled with stomach-turning, hate-filled mould, and disgusting parts of emotional abuse and mental tyranny. The full story should be applied to local teams, teams we support, the players, and the way we treat football as a whole because this story took 12 years of a player. No matter how rich and successful a person can be, he still won't accept his own countrymen hating him. And it is not Messi.

The abuse went both ways, Messi's fans couldn't stand the way Messi was treated and just passed it on to other victims like Higuain. Messi, without realizing it, was a source of pressure on many other players, or his fans were to be clear. Take a second to realize that all left-wingers that were produced by Argentina failed miserably, they didn't have a humble career, and no, they had a miserable failure.

The reason for that is that once a talented player emerges in Argentina, he's immediately compared to Messi and/or Maradona. Imagine the mental strength you would need to overcome that pressure, entire careers and people's lives spent being compared to Messi and/or Maradona. So much so that by the time Messi went from losing 4-0 against Germany in 2010 to winning the World Cup against France in 2022, the other, and only available winger in the team was still Ángel Di María.

The same thing happened with Bojan and Alen Halilović in Barcelona, Mario Götze in Borussia Dortmund, and hundreds of players who were the "next Messi" and the "next Maradona until their souls died as footballers. Praising Messi's mentality and resistance ignores the base problem here.

Thousands of players won the World Cup and tens of teams won the cup without 10% of this hell and misery, thousands of players who won without having their shirts burned and get called mercenaries, cowards, and denationalised. The problem is the fans.

In Conclusion

After having everything available to learn about Messi's situation with Argentina and its fans, the world of football doesn't have an excuse to avoid acting the way they have been acting for tens of years. The wheel has got to be broken after this, or at least slow down enough for people to start thinking about the consequences of our actions because currently, those actions are worse. In the past it was just fans on social media, nowadays, it's current players, ex-players, commentators, pundits, and even sports sites doing that.

Messi's fight to overcome Maradona's shadow is now multiplied by thousands of players being compared to other players. Haaland is already being compared to Cristiano and is demanded to score 40 goals or more per season until he is 35. Mbappe couldn't celebrate winning the golden boot without millions reminding him that Messi score 91 goals in the 2012-2013 season.

How many players' careers need to be destroyed, how many players need to lose their love of the game they grew up loving before we say enough? Contrary to popular belief, football fans are the worst part of football.

The End

Below are the sources used for this series

Cristiano Ronaldo's sister Katia Aveiro accuses Portugal fans of being 'sick, soulless and forever ungrateful'
Diego Maradona criticises Lionel Messi's leadership
Football as a Religion: The Church of Maradona
Maradona: Argentine national team going nowhere with Scaloni as head coach
Diego Maradona should not dismiss José Mourinho's brilliant negativity
The Müller-Maradona affair
'He'll be looking down on us!': Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni calls on Diego Maradona for divine inspiration
Brazil revive drug row after 15 years
Valdano explains the similarities and differences between Messi and Maradona
‘Messi is liberated’: Jorge Valdano on Argentina, politics and his goal in ‘86
Lionel Messi evokes Diego Maradona comparisons on road to World Cup final
Messi Is A Dog
The piece of writing that made Messi cry
Hernán Casciari's podcast appearance
Messi's voice message to Hernán Casciari