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Argentina’s president has lent his voice to the campaign to repatriate the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, but such a move seems extremely unlikely.
Given the global impact of Lionel Messi’s admission that he wishes to leave Barcelona, it was only a matter of time before the matter became an issue of state importance in the superstar’s native Argentina.
While the battle against Covid-19 continues, President Alberto Fernández this week had time to express his opinion on the supposed imminent departure of his compatriot from the Camp Nou.
Unsurprisingly, the politician believes that for the discontent Messi, there is no place like home.
“You are in all of our hearts,” Alberto told Leo during an interview on Saturday with C5N . “We have never been able to see you play in our lands, give us the pleasure of coming to finish your career at Newell’s, your club.
“If Messi does not retire in Barcelona, he should do it in Newell’s, like Marcelo Bielsa.”
Fernández, a longtime fan of Diego Maradona’s childhood club Argentinos Juniors, is not the first Argentine head of state to make such a request to the nation’s prodigal son of soccer. “I’ve been asking how we are doing with the foreign exchange reserves, to see if we can bring it in,” he joked.
In 2016, his predecessor, Mauricio Macri, implored Messi to reconsider his decision to retire from international soccer after the defeat in the Copa América final, while almost simultaneously the mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, unveiled a statue of the number 10 in the city.
On Friday, Rosario, Messi’s hometown, hosted a convoy of Newell’s fans who drove through the city to the iconic Flag Monument in support of this much-desired homecoming.
But while Leo seized a second chance to shine for Argentina, the request from Fernández and the Newell faithful seems far more unlikely.
Fernando Signorini, who coached Messi as Maradona’s fitness trainer during his ill-fated stint on Argentina’s bench, perhaps most eloquently sums up what is preventing the 33-year-old, other than financial considerations, from returning. “What is happening here in Argentina happens in very few parts of the world,” he explained to La Deportiva in July.
“Football has become a bloodbath due to crime in stadiums, bars (organized groups of thugs), the grounds where you go to bathe and the light or hot water is off.”
Messi’s cousin Maxi Biancucchi also admitted that he was unlikely to return home, saying Soccer Attack: “It is my dream, but it seems difficult. Imagine that Messi is playing the derby [against hated rivals Rosario Central], the children have to go to school … it’s hell ”.
Former international teammate Maxi Rodríguez can attest to the fever that grips the city of Santa Fe in derby week. The former Liverpool star Atlético de Madrid and Argentina, who was still playing at Newell’s in his third spell at the club at the age of 39, found his family literally on the firing line before the past Clásicos Rosarinos.
On July 23, Rosario’s house of Rodríguez’s grandmother was stained with the threatening message: “The derby or the bullets” on the morning of Newell’s last confrontation with Central. La Lepra fell 1-0, and two months later, before another derby, the promise was fulfilled; three 9mm bullets were fired at the front door of her house.
“I hope nothing happens, everything has a limit,” said the exasperated veteran The nation ahead of a 2016 derby that, thankfully, those horrible threats were not repeated. “I should have gone to hell a while ago.
“Everything has gotten out of hand. The folklore in this city was wonderful, but here all lines have been crossed. It is not only in sports, it hurts us as a society. I see him every day. With crime on the streets, power outages … People are just giving up. “
In recent years the battle for control of Newell’s bar and the wealth and power that comes with that dominance has been one of the fiercest in the country, leaving several hooligans dead, injured or imprisoned.
One of the most infamous cases involves former Diego Ochoa, who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for instigating the 2010 murder of predecessor Roberto Caminos and who nearly lost his life that same year after being assaulted and stabbed in the stands during a match against Independiente.
That conflict, however, is only a small part of the crime wave that has driven many people from Rosario to despair.
As one of the country’s major port cities, Rosario, nicknamed Argentina’s Chicago, has long been a destination for both legal and other merchandise. However, in the last decade, violence led by rival drug gangs and crime against people and property has reached epidemic levels.
More than 100 murders had been recorded in 2020 as of early August. That number would be much higher if it hadn’t been for the severe quarantine measures introduced in March, when the city had already reached 45 homicides, to combat the coronavirus.
The neighborhood of La Bajada in Messi’s childhood resembles a fortified complex, as residents have responded to the crime wave by reinforcing doors and blocking all windows facing the street. “I suffer with Argentina because of what is happening, especially because of the crime because I think about returning to Rosario,” said Leo. The cornice in 2018.
“I’m worried that they might kill you [to steal] a motorcycle, a watch or a bicycle. “
Messi has been consistent over the past few years in stating that any move he makes will take his family into account first and foremost, particularly his three young children. But in purely football matters there are few things in Argentina that encourage him to turn his back on Manchester City or Barcelona to return.
Not a single game has been played anywhere in the country since the coronavirus pandemic struck in March, and the Argentine FA has yet to confirm the start date or format of the upcoming season.
Some sort of transition tournament is expected to take place, with the 24 top flight teams (since relegation was eliminated last season) split into various groups and vying for the chance to advance to a tiebreaker competition.
It is the Copa Libertadores, which does not involve Newell’s, that remains the highest priority; But even there, with South America now the most affected region in the world by Covid-19 and with no signs that cases are stabilizing, there are huge doubts about whether competition will even take off.
Boca Juniors, for example, is scheduled to restart its campaign in just over two weeks at Libertad in Paraguay; A commitment that seems like a difficult task given that on Monday the 14th of the Xeneize squad tested positive for the virus and coach Miguel Ángel Russo was forced to withdraw from training due to his past medical problems.
Yet Newell’s continues to dream of repatriating its former magician from the youth team, celebrating President Fernandez’s plea.
“It is a great pride for Newell’s that the president wants the same as we do,” said the club’s director, Eduardo Bermúdez, “that the best player in the world, who is a fan of Newell’s, can play for our club.”
Of course, it would be the coup of the century for Lepra, a transfer on par with Maradona’s sensational signing in 1993 after his departure from Sevilla, the realization of a dream that has haunted the club since its former wonder boy began to shine. at the Camp Nou as a teenager.
Messi might still be sporting the red and black of his childhood idols, but it won’t be in 2020. The transfer would obviously be a huge boost for Newell’s, Rosario, and Argentine soccer as a whole.
Those in charge, however, must first focus on solving their own serious problems before dreaming of seeing little number 10 back where it all began.
