26/11/2023
What is the best goal of Messi's career?
Even before the World Cup in Qatar, if I had been asked this question, I would have struggled to answer. I have seen all of Messi's goals, and most of them live. Among so many goals, the number of unreal, important, and result-changing goals is not less. It is difficult to name a particular goal as the best.
But today, November 27, 2023, I have no hesitation in admitting that I have found the answer to the above question. Most "Messi well-wishers" like me already have the answer. Messi now has a goal that is easily the best of his career.
Which goal is that? Let's go back to another winter night.
Another first hour of November 27, 2022. Argentina lost their first World Cup match against Saudi Arabia. The next two matches are against Mexico and Poland, where losing is not an option. Messi, however, told the fans to have full faith in them, but who can understand the vortex of football? Argentina wants to win to survive the World Cup; that's how the starting whistle of the match against Mexico sounded.
Argentina played terribly in the first half. It was probably the worst half of the tournament in terms of our own strengths, expectations, and opponents. Argentina did not get any chance; on the contrary, Emiliano Martinez did not let themselves go out of the count by saving a great free-kick from Mexico. At the end of the first half, a wave of disappointment fell on the faces of the azure-blue fans crowded in front of the stadium and on the screens in every corner of the world.
Where is the dream of a champion and where is the fear of being left as the worst team? Where is the dream of seeing the golden trophy in the hands of Messi and where are thousands of supporters preparing to say goodbye to football forever?
Messi is still calm like the sea before the storm.
Agonising silence before the explosion.
Messi and the rest were seen in the tunnel as usual before the start of the second half. They learned what was going on, eye-to-eye and ear-to-ear. The referee's whistle blew, and the second half began. Argentina has just 45 minutes to avoid going home empty-handed. Maybe score a goal, step up someone, or sink into a blue ocean of sadness at the end of the match, just like their own jersey.
But Argentina is not able to match the game. Who will step up? The match reached 63 minutes on the clock. Enzo Fernandez passes to Di Maria. Di Maria wanted to pass to Molina, who was advancing slightly on the right wing, but was intercepted at the last moment. Then he extended a long pass towards Messi in the middle.
Well, Argentina needs a goal; the whole team is cheering; who steps up at that exact moment?
With Iran in World Cup 14', with Ecuador in a do or die match in World Cup 18' qualifiers, or with Nigeria in the World Cup? Aren't all the answers the same?
Yes, same. What will Lionel Messi do, once again with the whole team in agony, when Di Maria confidently passes the ball to him? Messi received the ball with the most reliable left-footed shot in the world. In front of Mexico's goal, which is kept by Guillermo Ochoa, who becomes a terror for the opponent when it comes to the World Cup!
When Messi is taking the shot, is it worth it at all? Messi took the shot strongly, and Ochoa jumped with all his might but did not reach the ball. The ball slipped past Ochoa's hands, only hitting the net in front, where the fate of the World Cup would be written.
The ball reached the net, and then the water rose up in the river with great brightness, the heart was shaken, and the tide was awakened in the sea of people. The whole stadium roared, from Rosario-Buenos Aires to Dhaka-Delhi, in every corner of the world.
Football poet Peter Drury was shouting,
"Lionel Messi... Messi's hit... Oh! That's what they came for! The magic man! One more Messi moment, and Argentina are alive!" Perhaps no one could have described it better.
The match clock showed 63:32 minutes. In 63 minutes and 32 seconds, Messi made history, changed the course of the match, and brought spirit to his teammates, who later reached the final minutes of the World Cup.
Today, on another November 27th night, we can celebrate the anniversary of that history with absolute satisfaction. "Ah! I saw the best goal of Messi's career with my own eyes."
