#5 Glittering club career awaits
Trending
For all the patriotic hullabaloo, a professional footballer is committed to the national team only for two months every two years. In between, they are called off and on to play qualifiers and then sometimes, irritatingly, to play friendlies.
South American players, plying trade in Europe, often need to fly across the Atlantic Ocean to play two games over 4-5 days, some in tough altitude conditions.
The club still remains the main entity and caretaker of the player. In Messi’s case, Barcelona have nurtured, shaped, paid hospital bills, cured and handheld him to the best player of the world pedestal. For fans of club football, he owes them peak playing health and shape for next 3 years.
Barcelona fans will recall how in the crucial month of April 2016, their South American stars returned jaded from few silly friendlies. The fatigue and tiredness led to underperformance as Barcelona got knocked out of Champions League and even suffered in their domestic title race.
Messi isn’t getting younger and his injuries have shown an increasing trend. Barcelona are no ordinary club. They compete in all tournaments till the last stages. Past two seasons, Barcelona have played 12% more games than any other side.
They need to optimize Messi’s playing time and peak abilities against the natural effects of aging. Sending him for qualifiers and risk him getting injured serves no purpose.
Messi is the messiah of Football. His CV needs no certification. Undoubtedly the best this generation saw and one of the finest ever. Let him concentrate on club football and us relish the performances in a bid to see him grow to unarguably the best player ever.
He must not come out of International retirement.
