Sometimes there are moments in football that remind you that a player is but human. Sometimes there are moments that reinforce the belief that a player stands above mere mortals. When Lionel Messi broke the La Liga goalscoring record on Saturday, he reminded us that he is both, at once human and yet above.
Record-breaking Lionel Messi is both football god and mere mortal
When the Barcelona forward shattered the La Liga goalscoring record, he showed his humanity, yet Messi often seems more than human.
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Evidence that Messi is not a deity has been around for years, with detractors pointing to his play away from Barcelona as proof that he's not, in fact, the best player on the planet. And even as he went on to win the World Cup Golden Ball, there were plenty criticizing his play for Argentina, calling him "subdued" while opponents did their best to mark him out of games.
Pressures followed Messi back to Barcelona. He'd had a rough year, having scored a mere 28 league goals to the 46 he'd scored in 2012-2013. He needed to prove to the world, and perhaps to Cristiano Ronaldo, that he wasn't fading out just yet. But something seemed off. Perhaps it was the tax case hanging over his head, or maybe the whispers of an injury Barcelona were determined to hide. Messi missed a penalty. He hit the crossbar from five yards out. He went missing in El Clásico, and Real Madrid went on to win. Rumors started to swirl that he was ready to leave Barcelona.
Prior to the Sevilla match, Messi hadn't notched a league goal in over a month. Then came a gorgeous direct free kick, slicing into the top left corner of the net. That goal relieved some of the pressure, but it was his second -- the now famous sliding toe-poke that catapulted him to the lead in La Liga goalscorers -- that brought the joy. The smile on Messi's face after he stuck the ball into the back of the net could've powered the homes of all the spectators packing Camp Nou. As his teammates tossed him in the air, that smile never wavered. Messi had made history, but the grin suggested relief, the relief of a man who no longer feared his talents were fading.
The grin was human, but the numbers suggest a god. 253 La Liga goals in ten seasons at Barcelona, over 400 professional goals in all competitions. While others will still argue in favor of Cruyff, or Pelé, or Zidane, or Maradona, it’s getting difficult to deny that Messi is the best to ever play this game.
What is, perhaps, most remarkable about this man is that he’s still got years ahead of him, plenty of chances to keep breaking records. Yet, with the exception of a World Cup, he’s already won everything: six La Liga titles, three Champions League trophies, four Ballon d’Or awards, three Golden Boots, and countless other trophies and plaques that must fill not just a cabinet but an entire room.
Messi is remarkable in that he has a relentless drive to keep pushing forward, adapting his game and pushing through boundaries, even though, on a personal level, there’s not much left to achieve. He could accept a new challenge elsewhere, seeking glory with other clubs as the vast majority of great footballers do, but even last week’s words about his future seemed to indicate he’d rather stay at Barcelona. Remaining at the same club for ten seasons could give Messi license to let up a bit, to accept his limelight and cruise at times. The opposite has proven true, and even amidst daily newspaper stories and media houndings and the pain that comes from being a professional athlete, Messi continues to find ways to improve.
And that’s what makes Messi seem more than a mere mortal. Yet when his teammates were tossing him in the air on Saturday, that childish grin reminded us that Leo, too, is human.
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