Messi and the year of the planets aligned: he returns to the field with the national team, thinking about Qatar

It’s not about points this time. It is not necessary to play the leaderboard in the last dates of the playoffs, which have been widely approved. Much less is it a very final, like the one against which it was definitely won Italy in Wembley a couple of months ago. She is a friendly against a rival from a small assembly, Hondurasbut for 10 del Argentina national teamthis Friday’s meeting in a packed Hard Rock Stadium in Miami has a similar motivational charge to all the previous ones.

Is that there is no more time, La Scaloneta plays the last tests before the World Cup and, beyond the fact that the match does not contain added value, the carrot from Qatar 2022 gives it the right seasoning so that Leone Messi Whose planets have lined up after a first year in Paris with setbacks, he now leaps onto the pitch dressed back in his country head-on and focused on the final stretch around November.

It is not new, Leo has the World Cup event in the Middle East between his eyebrows. Just see his latest post on Instagram to understand how involved he is. Shortly after being the figure of Paris Saint-Germain in last weekend’s victory against Lyon (he scored the winning goal) he posted: “Important triumph before the races with the national team“.

The selection. Priority for Rosario, without neglecting his responsibility with the 30 of the Parisian club, who now finally sees the real Messi. The previous one was not his best season for several reasons that added up and put together a combo that ended up playing against him.

Scaloni clarified at the press conference, in case there was any doubt: “He always wants to play and will always play with me unless something happens. It is a different case from the others. He is well and happy. PSG has found a way to play that understands him and we are happy for him. “

The adaptation was not easy, in football, but more than anything else in everyday life. Leave the convenience of Barcelona, his home, and the move with his whole family to the French capital, which with his arrival experienced a real revolution, violated his privacy and that of his loved ones. Earlier this year he fell victim to covid-19 to prove that Lionel Andrés is just another human being.

The cursed pandemic disease didn’t treat him well at all; On the contrary. He affected his lungs a bit and that left him with some consequences that impacted his performance in those early post-recovery games.

He wasn’t on the pitch. And to top it off, the knockout blow in the Champions League gave the entire PSG squad a slap in the face that turned its back. Who would have thought that an entire stadium – or a large part of it – would boo Messi, the best player on the planet? It happened at the Parc des Princes in the first half of the year and obviously it wasn’t pleasant.

However, La Pulga kept the focus: World Cup year. Another, but not another. Your fifth. The last one? As a matter of age, probably: I would arrive with 39 in 2026. This is why she faces him with an extra motivation, especially from a mental point of view.

He went through the full preseason and recharged his energy bar like he hadn’t in a long time. His wife and his children are already used to their new home, something that gives you more calm and emotional stability. And the results are in sight. The whistle is no longer heard why his start to the season was devastating. Six goals and eight assists in eight games accumulated so far in Paris. Physically and from a footballing point of view, he was once again the magician of Catalonia.

Criticism is now praise. The sports newspaper L’Equipe has included it five times team of the week so far in the second half. The way to play Christophe Galtier winks at Messi. The 5-2-3 gives him freedom, he has taken off his corset and can manage the team with a structure behind him that supports him and gives him security. Something similar had been happening to him for some time now in the National Lionel Scaloni.

Leo met with his fellow Albicelesti, here on American soil, between smiles and hugs, but with the seriousness of knowing what is at stake. Because the friendly match against Honduras and Tuesday’s match against Jamaica (in New Jersey), for him and for all of Argentina, are already part of the World Cup.

And luckily for the national team and for Lionel himself, the planets have lined up for the best in the world and he hopes to reach Doha.

Miami, United States. Special delivery.