As Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest footballer of all time, retired after a less than successful international football career following a second successive final defeat to Chile in the Copa America 2016 – yet another Argentine loss in a final of a major international tournament – we take a look at some of the men who helped make Messi the force that he is today.
Here are the five top footballing influences on Lionel Messi’s career so far.
5) Pablo Aimar
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Diego Maradona once said that Pablo Aimar is the only player that he would pay to watch. Now just another name in the ever-growing “The Next Maradona” list, Aimar was a No. 10 in the mould of the great legend himself. Armed with an endless bag of tricks and a surprisingly calm disposition when on the ball, the unassuming Argentine earned himself quite the reputation in the early 2000s playing for Valencia. Wizard, Clown and Genius were just some of the nicknames that were casually thrown around Aimar when in his prime.
While Aimar himself played out a rather underwhelming career, he managed to carve out for himself a pretty dedicated fan base. None more so than the young Leo Messi, the one who played in Argentina with Newell’s Old Boys, the one who was to grow up to be the one true heir to Maradona’s crown. Messi himself has repeatedly acknowledged idolising Aimar in his formative years fascinated by the guile and elegance exhibited by his compatriot, modelling some of his play on the former River Plate attacker.
4) Frank Rijkaard
The Dutch maestro, once described by The Daily Telegraph as having been “a stylish player of faultless pedigree” is probably most well-known for coaching Barcelona during its resurgence in Spanish and European football in the mid and late 2000s. Well, that and an infamous spitting incident involving West Germany’s Rudy Voller in the 1990 World Cup. But the reason why the entire footballing world owes Mr Rijkaard big time is because more than 11 years ago he introduced us to an extremely talented 17-year-old by the name of Lionel Messi.
Rijkaard saw Messi for what he was, an explosion waiting to happen. Rijkaard’s coaching abilities came to the fore when dealing with Messi. He not only helped Messi link up beautifully with the likes of Ronaldinho and Eto’o but also tinkered with his position playing him on the right flank instead of the left (Messi’s natural position growing up) thus allowing him to cut back and take shots on goal with his favoured left foot, moments of Messi magic that we have come to know and enjoy so dearly over the years. Messi for his part has constantly backed Rijkaard constantly emphasising that in spite of the plethora of success that he and Barcelona enjoyed under Pep Guardiola, Rijkaard remains the most important coach in his career in that he always trusted Messi and kept faith in his abilities.
3) Ronaldinho
Quite simply one the footballers in his day, you’d be hard pressed to find another sportsperson as entertaining as Ronaldinho Gaucho even if you searched the history books for as far back as they date. Barcelona’s superstar in the Rijkaard era and the architect of some of the most spectacular football the world has ever seen, it was Ronaldinho who persuaded Rijkaard to promote the raw and unheralded Messi into the Barcelona first team. Messi and Ronaldinho shared a great rapport, something that greatly helped Messi’s transition into the first team. In fact, Ronaldinho called Messi “little brother” passing on to the little one all the worldly wisdom in his possession.
Gaucho’s popularity in the Blaugrana dressing room also helped young Leo stand toe to toe with some of the most eminent footballers of their time. Messi for his part never forgot his mentor’s contributions and to this day acknowledges the part that Ronaldinho played in helping shape one of the most amazing footballing careers of all time. It is perhaps absolutely justified then that more than 11 years ago now, Gaucho assisted 17-year-old Leo Messi for his first ever goal in a Barcelona shirt, an outrageous chip over the goalkeeper. No less than 452 goals have followed since then.
2) Xavi and Iniesta
Barcelona’s wonder years have been going on for a while now. The ball was set rolling under Frank Rijkaard, the greatest contribution made under Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova and is currently being ably followed by the ever increasing trophy count under Luis Enrique. Focal to all Barcelona success in recent times are three diminutive and extremely talented footballers. While Messi always remained the centre point of the team, larger than life in attack, he was ably assisted by two midfield generals or should I say magicians.
Xavi Hernandez and Andrea “Happy Feet” Iniesta are two names that can and should stand alone on any given day as long as the topic is anything football related but such has been their combined contribution to Messi’s career that it is worth clubbing these two into a single entity. It has been suggested time and again that Messi would not have been Messi if he didn’t have a Xavi and an Iniesta playing behind him and creating chances. While this is not true by any stretch of the imagination, the contribution of these two pioneers of Tiki Taka football to Messi’s career and success is absolutely unquestionable.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo
Football fans in the 21st century are divided into two halves. The first comprises those who believe that Lionel Messi is the best player of this century and generation and maybe of all time while the second half is made up of those who pledge their allegiance to Cristiano Ronaldo. While this endless debate rages on, it is worth your while to just sit back and appreciate just how much these two legends have influenced each other’s games.
It is a relationship very much akin to and on the same stature as Mozart and Salieri minus the antagonism, to Tesla and Edison minus the craziness, and to Pepsi and Coca-Cola minus the obvious dislike for each other. In other words, although these two priceless footballers are obviously not the best of friends but theirs is a relationship as healthy and clean as can be between two great rivals, not aimed at but ultimately resulting in greatly raising each other’s games.
Have we missed anybody who you think played an indispensable part in shaping Lionel Messi’s game? Let us know in the comments!
