🗣️ Angel Di Maria: "Arjantin futbol tarihinin dönüm noktası, Messi'nin Meksika'ya attığı goldü.
O golün ardından her şey değişti ve takımın önü tamamen açıldı."
Perdeu-se a conta dos jogadores argentinos que se emocionam ao falar de Messi. Mais do qualquer tática, a nossa perspectiva externa é incapaz de dimensionar o impacto psicológico e emocional de dividir o gramado com o herói de infância.
for those that don't know, before Messi won a world cup, he quit the Argentina national team after losing 3 finals in a row from 2014-2016 (world cup + 2 copa america finals).
so many Argentinians doubted him. some even called him a lie and a fraud.
he played so well for Barcelona and won many ballons d'or (player of the year award) but in big moments for Argentina, he disappeared.
it took a lot of emotional processing and convincing from players and friends to convince Messi to join Argentina again.
and so he managed to find something within himself to keep going.
and since then, they have won the copa america (world cup for south america) in 2021, world cup in 2022, copa america in 2024, and are now in the final of the 2026 world cup, where he is tied for the most amount of goals in the tournament (but he's ahead of Mbappe on assists).
can you imagine what it must feel like to go from losing 3 finals in a row and giving up to finding something within you to keep going and then achieve more success than you could have ever dreamed? and to now be in a final again at 39 years old!
the beautiful message to me is to never give up on the things that matter the most to you and to not let others define your potential for you. you're far more capable than whatever you are able to dream up.