Lionel Messi: the footballer who played every game and managed his energy today | Argentina National Team | Peru vs Argentina | 2026 Qualifiers | Sports Total Score

Analysis: With polo insignificant and Gallese unprotected, the Bicolours only had one chance against Chile in Santiago

That year he arrived in Peru. Somewhere between holiday and charity.With a promise from the hand Neymar, Alves, Materazzi, Mascherano and many others, Messi I want to keep playing. In a season that saw him score 60 goals in 60 games, be substituted six times and find himself on the bench two other times, the Argentine remains determined to do what he loves best, and in addition, help others. Leo was about to turn twenty-six, and it showed.

Now ten years later, three Ballon d’Ors, a Copa America and a World Cup later, living in Miami, playing football for fun (for a good salary) and gaining the unanimous admiration of the football world and even Hollywood actors, ’10 ‘ is still valid. Of course, sometimes as a substitute, as in the game against Paraguay, or sometimes as a stand-up from the stands after not being called up to “let him rest”, as in some games at Inter Miami.

Small gestures mean a lot to a 36-year-old man, a father who has watched his children grow up and his colleagues retire.Measures to prove and cite Eduardo SacheriThat “The culprit of everything is time, which insists on passing away.”.

In an age of increasingly complex physical, nutritional, and even scientific preparations, Messi has stood out, considering cristiano ronaldo (two years older) not only for his archrival, but for him to be able to push his capabilities as a competitive animal to the limits.

The entire River Monument Stadium applauded Messi when he came on in the 52nd minute of the third match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Thursday. The 80,000 people who gathered in the stadium and bought tickets to watch the world champion, but most importantly, left happy after the score was 1-0, had Messi’s free-kick extended the deficit to 2 points. Didn’t hit the post.

A genius, an icon, someone who now has a box for himself and his family at said venuemade less than one appearance but made Paraguayans so angry that one of them, Antonio Sanabria, spat at him after an argument, a claim he later denied on national television as an official with questionable ethics. .

Although against albirroja Messi He was a substitute against Bolivia in La Paz the day before and was not even on the roster, although he signed a form as an assistant so that he could sit on the bench which only players and coaching staff allowed.

Going back further, in the first match against Ecuador, Argentina won 1-0 thanks to a Messi goal, and the star left the field shortly before the end of the game – which is almost never the case . This is not just for applause, but also to avoid fatigue. “I was a little tired, nothing, it just happened, it probably won’t be the last time I start to leave a game”, mentioned a smiling Messi to the Argentinian media, and caused a slight pang to those who seriously wondered what would happen to him after he retired. “He’s getting us ready,” fans were encouraged to say after speaking. Irrefutable conjecture.

Chronicle: 24 hours later, wounds still sore: What Peru-Chile in Santiago didn’t see

Messi, the end of a generation

From representing the German team in 2006 to now, only two players from South America have participated in the qualifiers: Lionel Messi and Paulo Guerrero. Both men are due to appear in court on Tuesday. The two men belong to a group whose memories still carry traces of another era, a decade like the 2000s that is starting to seem distant and where football still looked a bit like it did in the 1990s.

Messi, trained by Diego Armando Maradona; Paolo, trained by Gerd Muller. Messi, Ronaldinho’s teammate; Oliver Kahn’s “Paul”. Messi, Zidane’s opponent; Paul, from Makelele. Living history, maybe we’ll see how it was crossed for the final time on the pitch.

When asked whether he would be able to play in the 2026 World Cup (which he will do at the age of 39), the Argentinian always responded cautiously: “I don’t know.” His answer was more sincere than dribbling. Maybe it’s time to take it one step at a time and get used to it, although the football world will never get used to not seeing it on the pitch anymore. This could very well be the beginning of a great movie ending.