Suraj Oyewale: Messi – The nays had it (Y! FrontPage)

by Suraj Oyewale

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 They naysayers easily point to this fact, brandishing Pele, Diego Maradona, and Zinedine Zidane as examples; that until Messi wins the world cup, they don’t regard him as in this exclusive class yet. 

I expected it, but still did not want it to happen. I wished the opposite happened. I rooted for Argentina to win the World Cup Brazil 2014. Not because they were my favorite team – Brazil, Netherlands, France and Cote D’Ivoire are teams I traditionally support in any competition apart from Nigeria – but because of that whiz kid called Lionel Messi. When Gonzola Higuain’s strike hit the inner net in first half, I shouted to the top of my voice. But not so fast. The eagle-eyed assistant referee at the right side of the field raised flag. The Germans were the more dominant. They looked more deadly, but the Messi factor still gave me hope. Messi is one footballer who is capable of doing magic on field, within seconds. The fact that he was still on field – even if not so visible – was soothing for me. The hope never diminished. Then the worst fear happened: the baby face assassin from Bayern Munich struck. Mario Gotze put the Germans ahead. I was silenced. That was the end. I had hoped against hope that the Barcelona genius could still do the magic. I was wrong. The referee blasted the final whistle and I stood up from the couch and dashed to the room. I didn’t even wait to watch the celebrations. It was later that my wife came in to tell me the proceedings, that Messi was given the Golden Ball. No, I wanted the Golden Ball only as a bonus for him, it was the big prize itself I wanted for him.

Why was I this passionate about a match that did not involve Nigeria? Did I bet? No, I did not. I don’t bet, as a Muslim. I am a big fan of Lionel Messi, partly for what he does on the field, and partly for what he does off it – humility. The third factor is, Barcelona is my second club after Arsenal; I have been supporting them since Patrick Kluivert days.

Yet, the biggest factor that drove my emotion about that final match was debating point. As someone that argues football every now and then, one of the most difficult points I struggle to counter in my assertion that Messi is in the class of the greatest in the history of the game is critics’ claim he has not won the world cup. They naysayers easily point to this fact, brandishing Pele, Diego Maradona, and Zinedine Zidane as examples; that until Messi wins the world cup, they don’t regard him as in this exclusive class yet. I thought yesterday was the day – the Messi moment. The day to silence the critics. I was already mentally composing a strong Facebook post to silence the naysayers on Facebook, the “village square” where such debates normally hold. I was already preparing a topic for this column, “MESSI: NAYSAYERS SHOULD TELL US ANOTHER STORY!” I was preparing for my triumphant write-up. But no, the naysayers had it.

Well, the nays may have had this one, but I still hold my opinion that he is in the class of Maradona and Pele. Forget about what the critics say, Messi does not need to win a world cup before his name is etched in the hall of greats. He does not need to play in another club before he is regarded as a legend. Like one of my friends on Nairaland (another “townhall” for such debates), DayoKanu, used to argue, the analogy of Messi-proving-himself-outside-Spanish-league argument is, if a student is the best student in Harvard (La Liga), why does he need to go to UNILAG (English Premiership or any other league – apologies to UNILAG students and alumni, I don’t think there is doubt that Harvard is greater our own UNILAG though)  to prove himself? After all they meet in European Champions League every season. I buy this argument. Messi does not need to play in another league to prove his class, Pele never played in any European league.

NOW A REALITY CHECK: GERMANS ARE WORTHY CHAMPIONS

Even as a football follower that has his preferences in football teams and players, one thing I am capable of doing is rising about sentiments, most times. Unfortunately, Sunday was not one of such days. I always wanted the most deserving team to win. As a student of management, I always want hardwork to be commensurate with result. That is equity and fairness. Beyond the sentiments of wanting to silence Messi’s critics as a fan, Argentina did not deserve to win the world cup. It would be unfair if they did – but I will be happier. Netherlands and Germany were better teams in this tournament.  I also don’t agree that Messi was the best player in Brazil 2014. To me, Dutch Arjen Robben and Colombian James Rodriguez were better performers. One of them should have won the MVP gong.  But again, Messi is one player a lot of people – including those that voted in the search for MVP – love; you just can’t help liking the guy, not necessarily for what he does on the pitch only, but for what he does outside it too. I’m inclined to believing that those that voted for him did so more out of emotions than performance on the field of play. If Netherlands had eliminated the Albiceleste in the semis, I would have supported them in final. They also did well.

Can Messi still win the World Cup? I think this is the best chance. He may not even come this far again.

 

PS: My series on “who is the greatest columnist in Nigeria?” continues next week by God’s grace.

 

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Suraj Oyewale, a chartered accountant, blogger and public analyst, is the Founder of JarusHub Career & Management Portal. He tweets from @mcjarus

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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