ROSARIO, Argentina (AP) — A light breeze off the Paraná River brings a chilly afternoon to Rosario. As the children warmed up, the sound of the tiny spikes getting louder and louder until the referee signaled the players to enter the field.
They wear the orange-and-white striped jerseys of their neighborhood club, Ablandard Grandli. Lionel Messi’s The soccer journey began 34 years ago. From a nearby building, a mural of a young Messi watches over children chasing a ball.
Perhaps, a few years from now, one of them will be compared to Rosario’s most famous son, perhaps the best football player of all time.
“I watched him when I was little and wanted to play like him,” said 11-year-old Julián Silvera, who particularly admires Messi’s free kicks.
The final chapter of Messi’s illustrious football career is yet to be written – in a few weeks, the 38-year-old inter miami The captain is expected to play for the sixth time. world cup for ArgentinaAlthough it has not been officially acknowledged. The story begins here in the middle-class district of Rosario, Argentina’s third largest city and the industrial center where revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born.
In 1992, Lionel’s maternal grandmother, Celia, took five-year-old Lionel to see his older brother, Matias, play in the Grandoli, one of Rosario’s youth leagues.
How Messi ended up on the pitch is part of club lore. With one player absent from the seven-a-side game for six-year-olds, Celia thought her petite but talented grandson had a chance. She argued with coach Salvador Aparicio to use him.
“Aparicio didn’t want him to do that because he’s too young for his age group,” Ezequiel Azares, a teammate of Messi’s in the Grand Prix early on, told The Associated Press. “Grandma insisted. When they put him on, everyone said, ‘What a player!'” That’s how it all started. ”
Spanish journalist Guillem Balague, author of Messi’s only authorized biography, said his coach believed the match was too harsh for the boy, who was already showing signs of developmental problems and would later seek treatment. He decided to place Messi on the right side, closer to his grandmother.
According to Balague’s testimony, Aparicio told the woman, “If you see me crying or scared, please take me out.”
Aparicio, who passed away in 2008, has spoken in several interviews about how Messi was unable to control the ball the first time it came to him. However, on the next play, he received the ball with his left foot and dribbled past opponents one after another. A legend was born.
Soccer fans watching young Messi saw a “new Maradona”
In Argentina, so-called “baby football” clubs serve as training grounds for children aged 4 to 13.
Unlike teams for teenagers, players do not receive a percentage of the transfer fee when they move from club to club later in their career. So-called solidarity payments are an important source of income for clubs around the world who develop talented players before they turn professional.
Instead, they rely on monthly membership fees paid by families and ticket sales on game days. In Grandoli’s case, the club was able to use Messi’s fame to generate additional revenue from advertising for energy drink and beer brands.
In the club’s small dressing room, a display case filled with trophies and photos from Messi’s youth team chronicles the left-footed maestro’s time at the club, providing inspiration for the hundred or so children who train there.
“He was a different kind of player. I just had to give him the ball and support him. I already knew he had a future,” recalled Asarez, who has two sons who currently play for the club. “He’s going to leave three or four guys behind. We’re going to wait for the rebound or he’s going to score.”
As the goals piled up, more and more spectators flocked to the pitch on weekends to watch the “new Maradona”, born the year after Argentine soccer icon Diego Maradona lifted the World Cup trophy in 1986.
“We were lucky to see from the beginning what everyone else was able to see growing up. He was great,” said David Treves, one of Grand Li’s coaches and president for 17 years until 2023.
“He had incredible speed and ball control. Back then, the pitch was nothing special, just dirt. His technical skills overshadowed his physical limitations,” Treves said.
From Grand Prix to World Cup
At the age of seven, Messi moved to Newell’s Old Boys, one of Rosario’s most popular clubs. Messi’s family moved to Spain after the club refused to pay for his treatment for the growth hormone deficiency that threatened his career, and soccer giants Barcelona welcomed the 13-year-old prodigy into their academy and offered to pay for his medical expenses.
In a career that has seen him win numerous trophies with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and now Inter Miami, Messi never returned to the Grandeur. But some of his gestures are reminiscent of his beginnings there.
During his goal celebration, Messi pointed his index finger to the sky in honor of his grandmother, who passed away in 1998 and credited her with pushing him to take up soccer.
After winning the 2022 World Cup with Argentina in Qatar, Messi posted a heartfelt message on social media. “Between the Grand Prix and the Qatar World Cup, almost 30 years have passed. For nearly 30 years, the ball has given me a lot of joy and sadness. I always dreamed of becoming world champion and I never wanted to stop trying.”
That message was not lost on his childhood club. On a balmy May afternoon, children playing soccer had the phrase “From Grand Prix to Qatar World Cup” written on their jerseys.
The referee blows the whistle to end the match. The smell of french fries and chicken cutlet sandwiches beckons kids to rush from the field to the club’s snack bar.
With the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada just around the corner, the Grand Prix’s youth players, like the rest of Argentina, are hoping that Messi will be available and lead the defending world champions one last time.
“There will never be anyone like him,” said 11-year-old Valentin Enriquez. “It’s sad to see the best player on the national team leave.”
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
