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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – At the top of the stands, Diego Maradona rolled his eyes, supplicating his arms, and mumbled two words: Gracias, Dios.
Not for the first time, Maradona detected divine intervention just when Argentina needed it the most. This time, however, it was a holy trinity, rather than a hand of God, on the ground before it: the first touch to cushion the ball; the second to roll it into position; and the third to sweep in front of Francis Uzoho, Nigeria's goalkeeper, and send a nation in rapture. Lionel Messi, once more, had delivered salvation.
But the rescue of Argentina could not be so simple, of course. His campaign in Russia only has a few weeks, in simple chronological terms, but it was conducted against such an emotion that all participants must feel as though they were in Bronnitsy, the base of the day. Team training, for years.
There have been rumors of mutiny and allegations of coups, WhatsApp messages, sharp comments and step-by-step reconciliations, disconcerting tactics and inconsistent team selections. Countless investigations and accusations, and thorough forensic examinations of the national soul. It would not have been fair that this evening be simple. It had to be complex and hollow and euphoric, a 90-minute live episode of an endless telenovela. He must be distinctly, undeniably, Argentinian.
Javier Mascherano then conceded a penalty just after halftime, Nigeria equalized and, for a while, Argentina was going to be eliminated from the World Cup. There was a V.A.R. review that could have meant a defeat for Argentina to go with its despair. There was a chance for Gonzalo Higuaín to win, pushed back. There was fear and frenzy.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Gabriel Mercado crossed the ball and Marcos Rojo – the central defender, the part of the team that symbolizes everything that is wrong with this Argentina – produced the volley. purest and most sumptuous.
The noise that followed shook the stadium. There was Rojo, fleeing, celebrating, taking away his country away from humiliation and shame – carrying him into the last 16, Messi wearing on his back.
This is usually, of course, the opposite. In retrospect, Messi said that he knew that Argentina would eventually prevail. "I knew God would not let us out," he said – but only after sending everything God could do to try them.
"I do not remember having ever suffered so much, with the situation, with what was at stake," said Messi.
Over the past few days, these past two weeks, it's clear that he felt the tension more than anything, more than expected.
Woven into the pressure on his national team, there was the endless dichotomy drawn between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo: that the first is blessed with the talent given by God, the latter being the product of implacable self-improvement.
Ronaldo had to work to eliminate all his latest abilities. Messi wears his luster more lightly; these things just come to him. He introduces himself, passes through a few players, scores a few goals and comes home. He is, as always called Gérard Piqué, an "extraterrestrial": he does not have to try because he is not from this Earth.
The reluctance of Messi, in public, has always added to this impression. His image has blossomed like that of the strong and silent type, not given to the rise and fall of emotion, immune to pressure or waiting. He rarely looks angry; he never loses his temper.
These last two weeks have denied this idea. Messi, throughout his stay in Russia, seemed inhibited, intimidated and stressed. He has publicly manifested himself – frowning during the national anthem before the defeat in Croatia – and privately too. He was removed to Bronnitsy, he would have escaped a family barbecue arranged by the team to try to cheer the players up.
The fact that his family was forced to gather around him testifies to the seriousness of the situation. His wife, Antonella, posted support messages on Instagram; Even more strikingly, Messi's mother, who usually keeps the lowest profiles, has felt moved to speak on behalf of her son not once, but twice.
It's no big secret to know why Messi, 31, could have felt under such tension: he was ordered to win the World Cup for Argentina for the first time in 32 years; he has been told again and again that this would be his last chance to do it; It made him feel that it's only by claiming the prize that has always eluded him that he will be able to count himself among the real big ones of the game. He began to believe that it was in Russia that his heritage would be cemented or exposed. Like everyone else, he found that it was a terrible burden to bear.
Against Nigeria, for the first time, he gave the impression that he had started working to assume it effectively. After his first match of Argentina, a 1-1 draw against Iceland and after Ronaldo scored a hat trick in Portugal's first match against Spain, the usual refrain was that the pressure limited Messi but inspired his rival.
In St. Petersburg, in a stadium decked in blue and white, Messi was presented with a game that, if it had failed, would have been his last World Cup match, and perhaps his last appearance for his country. .
He did not buckle, did not shrink in himself. He took another new role in this Argentine team – wide right, where it all started for him all those years ago – and then scored the goal that even pushed Maradona to pray with gratitude. Just as he seemed to lean over and break, Messi was standing up.
It would have been cleaner, of course, if its purpose had turned out to be decisive – if this blur of movement, this perfect marriage of athletic technique and technical accomplishment had washed away Argentina's edge. and in the last 16.
But this end, perhaps, belongs to his other story, the one where Messi walks through the games as he wanders behind his opponents, where everything is a child's game, and he leaves the field barely disturbed.
Instead, we received a more appropriate finale, in which glory and honor fell to someone else, to Rojo, and where Messi spent his last minutes running after loose bullets, harass defenders, hunt and work in the land to make sure that Argentina has made across the line, that he remained alive.
There was no divine intervention here. Just hard, human work. Argentina did it. Messi did it. There are others to come, starting with France in the last 16. Their reward for avoiding shame is more stress, more pressure, more pressure. They would not have it otherwise. Gracias, Dios.
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