The Joy of Messi

The joy of Messi

Writing in El Pais today the journalist Jordi Quixano notes that the health of FC Barcelona depends on Leo Messi’s smile and the excellence of his football.

Watching Messi play in the pre-season warm-up game against Leicester City last night , I was not alone in feeling elated. The crowd in Stockholm’s aptly named Friends Arena evidently relished, as did TV viewers around the world, his ability to raise the occasion to something worthwhile. It was indeed a necessary tonic after a summer marred by an insipid Euro-championship and the dark menace of terrorism.

Forget the extent to which Messi’s platinum blond dyed hair seems as much at odds with his persona as would be Rastafarian locks on Ronaldo. The Messi tonic came in the sheer creativity and vision of his play, with the precision of his passing contributing to all three Barca goals.

He might be one of the smallest players on the pitch and may no longer have the speed to outrun opponents, but this little big man ,as Alfredo Relano puts it, sees the game with a periscope and places the ball with mechanical accuracy. The stadium chanted Messi, Messi, Messi, and gave him a standing ovation when he was substituted in the 62nd minute. Thankyou for the joy, Leo.

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