The Miracle Of Lionel Messi: Embrace Him And Celebrate His Greatness

Mark Twain once said that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. 

But I would add a third: the day I met Lionel Messi. 

It was a sticky, humid and thunderstorm-ridden day in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, back in the summer of 2023, which was Messi’s arrival for Inter Miami. The night before the Leagues Cup final, which would eventually become Leo’s first trophy with the club, and his 44th career title, which would become a record. 

(Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)

But I was inside one of the suites at Inter Miami’s former stadium, waiting for an exclusive interview with a player I had covered — and, just like any other mortal, marveled at throughout my life and career. 

As a football journalist, the values of objectivity are imperative foundations of our work, and it’s important to never get carried away when you meet someone you admire tremendously. It also goes back to the well-known saying that you "should never meet your heroes," some words of wisdom that were said from one legendary icon (John Lennon) to another (Mick Jagger). But I actually attribute this piece of advice more to lines from Gustave Flaubert’s 1856 novel, "Madame Bovary,"which read: "Don't touch your idols: a little gold always rubs off."

But with Messi, the gold never does.  

(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

And to me, in order to be a true serviceman of the sport as a journalist, you can’t just report on the beautiful game, you have to feel it. You have to live inside the skin of what it means to be a supporter, because they are the heart, the flesh and bones of a club or a national team. So to meet Messi is to represent what it would mean to any Argentinian who would give their right