As we all know, Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina and spent his childhood there. However, at the age of 13, he moved to Spain after joining Barcelona. Five years down the line, he acquired the Spanish citizenship.
However, before he gained full Spanish citizenship, Messi represented Argentina in a competitive match at youth level. Now, according to the rules of FIFA, any player who has represented his/her country for even a single minute, cannot represent any other country. So Messi became ineligible to represent Spain by FIFA rules.
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One should keep in mind that in the olden days, this was not the case. A player could choose to represent whichever nation he/she wanted to provided he/she had the citizenship of that country. Imagine that was the case even now. What if Messi was still eligible for Spain and chose to represent the Spanish national team instead?
Note: This is a hypothetical situation and all of the following points are mere conjectures.
#5 No final curse for Argentina as they wouldn’t have reached them
Since Lionel Messi made his debut for his national team in 2004, Argentian have gone on to make the finals of 2014 World Cup, the finals of the 2007, 2015 and 2016 Copa America tournament, and had won the Olympic gold medal in 2008.
Would that have been possible without Messi? It is difficult to say. After all, the nation does have a tendency to produce some scintillating forwards every decade.
Keeping that in mind, it is also important to note that, although people say Messi is not good in national colours, he is the highest all-time goal scorer for Argentina. Moreover, he has been involved in a bulk of the goals scored by Argentina in the last decade. The question is if Messi did not turn out for Argentina, would they be able to perform so consistently?
To fill a void as big as Messi’s is next to impossible. And given how some of the Argentinian strikers have let the team down, it is highly doubtful that they would have even made it to the 2014 World Cup finals without the little magician.
#4 Spain – the greatest team ever?
The Spanish football team generally likes to play with a false 9 rather than a traditional striker, a role that Messi flourishes in. Also, it is important to note, the tiki-taka style that they implement in their gameplay, was first brought to the forefront by a Barcelona team which revolved around Messi.
It would perhaps be safe to say that with Messi in the team, Spain’s dominance in international football would have gone on longer than it eventually did.
Spain won the three consecutive trophies including two Euro Cups in 2008 and 2012 and one World Cup in between. Perhaps, with Messi, they would have at least made the finals of the 2014 World Cup. They would not have crashed out in the 2nd round of the 2016 Euro Cup against Italy and Portugal may not have ended as winners.
One thing that is for certain is that the La Rojas would have definitely scored more goals than they usually score. The only negative thing would have been, though, that Messi would be given most of the credit for Spain’s triumphs.
#3 Diego Maradona would still be the only God for Argentinians
Diego Maradona in Argentina is a demi-God. However, when the question arises as to who is the greatest footballer that Argentina has ever produced, the nation gets divided. One-half believes that Maradona indeed is the greatest ever. The other half, however, vouch for Messi.
The fact that both have similar attributes do not help the debate. And although they are from two different generations, people draw comparisons every now and then.
Maradona had almost single-handedly led Argentina to the World Cup trophy in 1986 and led them to the finals of another in 1990. Given that Messi is yet to win a major international trophy, one might be led to believe that Maradona is indeed the greatest in the country. However, one should not forget that Argentina didn't lose 4 finals because of Messi, they played 4 finals because of him.
Without Messi playing for Argentina, Maradona would still have been the cynosure of all eyes in the country and Argentinians would still be whining about the times when Diego Maradona won them the World Cup.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo would not have won so many Ballon d’Or awards
Football has never seen a rivalry more fierce than the one involving Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The two have dominated the world football for nearly a decade. They have shared the Ballon d’Or since 2008, with Messi winning five times and Ronaldo winning four times.
But if Messi played for Spain, would Ronaldo have won four Ballon d’Or titles? Not undermining the Portuguese superstar’s achievements, it is doubtful that he would have won four.
Hypothetically, with Messi winning the 2008 Euro Cup, the results for the Ballon d’Or in 2008 might have been very different (although Ronaldo did have an incredible season and should have still won). In 2013, of course, the entire voting procedure was shrouded in controversy. Again in 2016, if Portugal had not won the Euro Cup with Messi leading the Spanish side, the story could have been very different.
It is possible that Messi would have won at least two more Ballon d’Or awards with Ronaldo losing out. And the debate about who is the best at the moment would have ended without much argument.
#1 Lionel Messi would have been considered the greatest ever
It is often debated whether Lionel Messi could be considered as the greatest ever to grace the sport. However, his shortcomings in the international stage come up as an obstacle as Brazilian legend Pele, Diego Maradona and now even, Cristiano Ronaldo, are named before him in the list of greatest ever.
If he had featured for Spain, by now, he would have won at least three major international tournaments, including the World Cup.
Probably, he would have helped Spain win more trophies with his Argentine teammates not being present to let him down time and again. He would not have announced his retirement abruptly following a disappointing loss in the final of a major tournament, and, definitely, his personal cabinet would be filled with more medals.
There would have been absolutely no debate as to who the greatest ever footballer in the world is. Even his worst haters would have had to admit it and Maradona would not have the guts to talk about who is better than him. Yes, Messi’s life would have been better.
