Lionel Messi played his last game for Argentina’s national team on Tuesday. NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer reflects on his career and legacy with CBS Sports commentator Nico Cantor.
Transcript
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Lionel Messi is the most decorated player in soccer history. He’s played in six World Cups. He’s scored more than 900 goals. He revolutionized the game of soccer globally. And yesterday, after 21 years of playing for Argentina’s national team, he put on the No. 10 jersey one last time in Buenos Aires.
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LIONEL MESSI: (Speaking Spanish).
PFEIFFER: The stadium was packed with more than 85,000 fans watching as Argentina defeated Benin 3-0. CBS sports commentator Nico Cantor has covered Messi’s career for years, and he’s with me now. Hi, Nico.
NICO CANTOR: Hi, Sacha. How are you?
PFEIFFER: I’m good. Did you get to watch this game last night?
NICO CANTOR: Yeah, I did. It was very emotional. We as football fans and general soccer fans never thought that this day would come. It’s here. It’s sad, nostalgic. But Messi did get his farewell in front of the Argentine people, the nation that he had to leave at a very young age. And it was very beautiful to see.
PFEIFFER: You know, as you know, in Argentina, soccer, football is almost religious. It’s this national identity. It’s cultural as much as it is sports. And that No. 10 jersey has had a long line of the greatest-ever players wearing it. What do you think that Messi contributed to the lure of that Jersey number, No. 10?
NICO CANTOR: Yeah, it’s a really interesting question because, of course, No. 10 was worn throughout so many years by Diego Maradona, the country’s first GOAT. You know, he was the first athlete with that No. 10 jersey to transcend the sport. He became a cultural phenomenon. There is a massive political, diplomatic backdrop to the figure of Maradona that elevated him to this untouchable cult status. Maradona still to this day is viewed as a deity. And Messi shows up and wasn’t close to fulfilling the legacy that Maradona left behind. But in the last five years or so, Messi was really able to revert that narrative. And Maradona perhaps wasn’t the best example to the world. He was this sort of imperfect hero, an antihero, if you will. Messi, on the other hand, is the perfect hero on and off the pitch.
PFEIFFER: It can be hard to get different generations to agree on who are the greatest sports figures. And maybe the younger generations are quicker to name people the greatest. And the older generations might think, give them more time. But it seems like all generations are in agreement here about Messi’s greatness. What do you think it is about him that just is so multigenerational in admiration?
NICO CANTOR: First off, the longevity. Messi’s prime is longer than any footballer that I have seen. And there really hasn’t been a footballer to be at that level putting up insane numbers. They really are mind-boggling. And just winning – the dedication to the craft, to his body, to his skill, to winning. To me, it’s very difficult to understand how normal of a human being Messi seems, despite the fame that is associated with his name throughout the entire world.
PFEIFFER: Messi will still play Major League Soccer for Miami. In fact, I flew through the Miami airport recently, and his poster is everywhere in that airport. But how much do you see this as actually the end of Messi?
NICO CANTOR: That’s a really good question because he really hasn’t alluded to getting into coaching or anything like that. But of course, we’re closer to the end than we are to the beginning. So every single match that you can go to, if you live in the United States and you’re listening to this, appreciate that moment because we are seeing the very, very end of what is an unrivaled career in football.
PFEIFFER: That is Nico Cantor of CBS Sports. Nico, thank you for helping us cap off the career of a soccer legend.
NICO CANTOR: Sacha, thank you.
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