Lionel Messi goes into the World Cup with a fresh record: He will play his 200th international match on June 17th against Algeria. Messi’s role has changed, but the team around the world champion has hardly changed.
He only needed a good minute to set the new record that the Argentinian number 10 set last Wednesday. After three weeks with muscular problems – he suffered a strain in the last game of the season with Inter Miami in the MLS – Messi celebrated his comeback on the pitch in the 70th minute in the last World Cup test against Iceland. Shortly afterwards, his team was awarded a penalty – and there was no discussion about who would take it.
Record broken in 1958
Messi stepped up, coolly converted into the top right corner and was celebrated by his colleagues for another entry in his nation’s football history books: at 38 years, 11 months and 14 days, he was now the oldest player to ever score for the Albiceleste.
Angel Labruna had previously held the record for 68 years, but Messi didn’t want to dwell on it for long after the 3-0 win: “As I have always said, I don’t think about records, but only about the common goal. We will go step by step, as always, but with a lot of desire, great enthusiasm and the conviction of what we are capable of.”
Forever a team player
Such sentences are characteristic of him. Cult player Messi has never made a cult out of himself; for him, the team has always been and continues to be in the foreground. In contrast to one or two aging legends at this World Cup, there is apparently no doubt about his role within the team.
With Messi, no teammate seems to have the feeling that their development or potential for development is being held back. On the contrary: everyone knows what they owe him – and still owe him. Nevertheless, his role has changed since the World Cup triumph in Qatar four years ago.
Ten Starting XI player from the 2022 final
Messi will no longer be on the pitch for 90 minutes in every game, and every attack will no longer have to come through him. But he will still be indispensable as a set-piece shooter and brilliant passer. Little changes around Messi. With Rodrigo de Paul, the “bodyguard” is back in the squad, whom Messi knows to be a reliable protector in the national team and also in Miami.
From the 2022 world champion team, only his long-time companion Angel Di Maria is no longer there, but keeper Emiliano Martinez, the back four in front of him with defense chief Nicolas Otamendi, the midfield strategists Enzo Fernandez and Alexis Mac Allister, in the central point Lautaro Martínez or Julian Alvarez – all four years older, but all back at the start.
Appeal to the fans at home
But it is neither to be expected nor recognized that this longed-for world champion title, which Messi was still missing, has caused a feeling of satiety. The eight-time world footballer emphasized it again just to be on the safe side.
Immediately after the final whistle of the Iceland dress rehearsal he said: “People should have no doubts that we will give it our all.” He then addressed the supporters at home directly: “This team will not let you down.”