When will a new Messi emerge?

After his stellar performance in Mexico 86 and his final farewell to the national team (1994) and football, most of us Argentines wondered when a new Maradona would appear. The answer came with the 21st century: Lionel Andrés Messi. That Diego was not and never will be, because like Diego, nobody.

But his figure grew to superlative levels compared to the leadership and numbers achieved by the 10 in the 6327 days from the debut on February 27, 1977 to June 25, 1994. And now Lionel has 6332 days. Rosario’s man, in his way, with his style, with all his speed as a young man, with his peripheral vision and leadership as a big man, broke all records.

A few years ago we started wondering when a new Messi will emerge. And now that the best player in the world has managed to lift his dream World Cup at the age of 35, the question doubles. When will a new Messi emerge? And I wonder more: what characteristics will it have? Will he be faster, physically and mentally, than La Pulga? Will he have speed and precision in moving the ball like Lio? In how many seconds will he be able to cover the last quarter of the field? How many dribbles can he do to continue to amaze the world with a unique skill? Because Leo’s campaign with Albiceleste is not made up only of numbers and yet, if another stellar figure appears: how many games, how many goals and how many assists will he score?

We were contemporaries of Diego and Messi. We grew up listening to the deeds of Alfredo Di Stéfano, Pelé and Johan Cruyff and modernity has allowed access to videos to ratify what the elderly told us. Each in time to him, they were the best, in terms of technique, deployment and mental speed.

In the Olympus of football gods there are three Argentines. Will the next one be too? American, European, African or Asian? Will we witness the birth of a new king? Will we be so old that in the coffee talks we will make sure that yes the new is good, he is very fast, but not like Messi? Like Messi, no one.