Messi's World Cup farewell comes full circle against Spain - ESPN

As this FIFA World Cup tournament keeps proving, it's always unwise to put limits on Lionel Messi. And so whether it's a possibility or a probability, there is a chance that the 39-year-old's international career ends in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday in the final, against the very team that could have sent him on a very different journey.

Those of us at the South American Under-20 Championship in Colombia at the start of 2005 will never forget it.

Argentina paraded a mop-haired left-footed playmaker, only 17 and seemingly half as tall as everyone else. He bore no resemblance to an elite athlete — until we saw him play.

Back then, an extraordinary 21½ years ago, Messi was already giving a masterclass. The way the ball stuck to his left foot was uncanny, but there was something else. This youngster was not doing flicks and tricks 40 yards from goal. He appeared to have an extraordinary capacity to understand space, to see where and when he could hurt the opposition. He was clearly going to be something special, and all of us there watching him were delighted to be in on the secret.

Because at the time he was an unknown. He had lived in Rosario until age 13, before he moved to Barcelona, but had played only a handful of games for the club, and even Argentina did not know a great deal about him — though they knew that Spain were trying to persuade him to represent the country, and that was enough to spur them into action.

Argentina played their cards well and offered Messi a chance to represent the land of his birth on Aug. 17, 2005 in a friendly against Hungary — though he was sent off less than a minute into his debut.

For a while, he was mocked for his choice. Spain won the World Cup in 2010 and the European