Guillem Balague - Messi

Messi

Guillem Balague

FOREWORD BY
ALEJANDRO SABELLA

AFTERWORD BY
SANDRO ROSELL

To my dad who has started reading again
To my mum who is the strongest person I know
To Maribel, my good fairy

Contents

The great 87 generation. And the Game of the Mask.

The day of his debut with the first team, against Porto (16 October 2003). Yes, he was a bit lost.

Ronaldinho adopted Messi as his brother.

An extraordinary season. In 2009, Barcelona won everything.

The winning goal of the FIFA Club World Cup, 2009, in extra time. A very hard game.

With Pep Guardiola, many of Leos habits changed. His physical preparation became more individually orientated. After two years of injury nightmares, he learned to listen to his body.

First Ballon dOr, 2009. With his mum Celia, and his dad Jorge. The road there was arduous.

When Messi was 13, his mum had to leave Barcelona to look after the other half of the family who could not adapt to life in Barcelona. She is the centre of his world. Here he celebrates her birthday after yet another goal.

Messi cried the day Barcelona lost against Sevilla in the Cup... after having won every single title in the first year and a half with Pep. Every defeat is a little death.

Man of the match, goalscorer of the 2-1... at Wembley Leo Messi helped Barcelona win another Champions League.

In 2011, at Wembley, the world recognised he was not just something special. He was probably the best ever. Sir Alex Ferguson went out of his way to shake his hand.

Pep had to understand how to talk to Leo. At first, fluent communication was not easy.

The 2011 Club World Cup against Santos was the consecration of the Barcelona style.

Third Ballon dOr. He wanted more.

He cries in silence. Even after having won everything, there are defeats that hurt too much.

On the pitch at the last game with Pep Guardiola at the Camp Nou. Messi scored four goals and said goodbye to him on the pitch. Thank you for everything, Leo, Pep told him.

He tries to live with what fame brings. But these are the moments he likes the least.

Leo doesnt play to please you, me or anybody. But he certainly appreciates the support.

Leo and a ball. A special relationship.

Leo and Dad. Leo and his manager.

He works with the Leo Messi Foundation to help kids. He started it after a visit to a ward with kids suffering from cancer which made him cry.

Nobody got this far.

His contract renewed again. The club wants to make sure he is always happy.

I was appointed national team manager after the Copa Amrica in Argentina. The national side had been eliminated despite not losing a game: they drew twice and beat Costa Rica in the group phase, then drew with Uruguay in the quarter-finals, before losing on penalties. When a team with players of this quality and strength plays in a tournament of that nature, we all find it frustrating if they dont end up as champions. Even when, as happened in this case, they do not lose a single game.

It is normal for the players to have a heightened sense of expectation at the beginning of a new era, with a new coach. We were coming at a low ebb, having failed to progress further in the Copa Amrica. I felt there were conflicting feelings despite the disappointment, we were sufficiently motivated to move forward with renewed optimism.

The first time I spoke to Leo was in Barcelona. It was in 2011, soon after my appointment. I set out to meet all the players who were playing for sides in Europe. My first stop was Portugal, followed by Barcelona. I didnt know Leo personally, but I wanted to speak to him and to Javier [Mascherano], whom I had met before and who was the captain, to suggest that Leo should wear the armband of the national side. The main purpose of my trip was to introduce myself and to get to know the players, especially those I didnt know, such as Leo, but the question of the team captaincy was important to me. I considered it essential for everyone to know Leo was the leader and that he would lead in his own natural manner. It was vital that he should be recognised as such by the players.

The three of us met, and afterwards I went to Italy, leaving them to discuss it among themselves and to give me their answer. I think it was Javier who rang me to say yes, Leo would be the captain.

After that meeting we met again in India to play one of the national teams first games, a friendly against Venezuela, and later against Nigeria in Bangladesh. But if one match symbolised the new era, it was surely the one against Colombia in the South American qualifiers for the Brazil World Cup 2014. We went through a difficult moment in Barranquilla where, fortunately, the lads were able to turn around a match played in suffocating heat. We were losing 10 after a goal from Dorlan Pabn that went in off Mascherano. Fortunately Messi equalised before Agero made it 21 near the end.

As I often say, in football there are defining games, matches that provide the lift you need, the push required to get you going along this new road. I think that game was perhaps the beginning, because after that we started to build a close-knit group and, when a group is close, they get results, are happy playing together and achieve so much more. It is the perfect way, the only way, to overcome your weaknesses.

I am asked if that match defined not only the national team, but Leo himself, since it was from that match onwards that he began to be perceived differently in Argentina. It was certainly the start of a change of perception but there was another one as important, on 29 February, the day we played Switzerland away. That was such a wonderful performance. The day Leo scored a hat-trick. It was his first hat-trick for his country. He had done it for Barcelona countless times, but that was his first one in the blue and white of Argentina. Later in the same year he scored three more goals against Brazil But, yes, that game against Colombia was, from both a footballing and coaching point of view, the confidence boost we needed.

What I can say is that Leo is a very calm person. He possesses natural leadership as a result of the enormous level of ability he has attained, and what is more, his leadership is accepted by everyone.

I like to give all footballers freedom, and that includes Leo. They live with enough pressure as it is, and I prefer to let them move around freely. The captaincy brings with it greater responsibility, but Leo knows this and has accepted it, and it is helping him to mature and grow. And that is also good for his team-mates.

His team talks and private discussions remain in-house, but I can say that there is undoubtedly a generally happier vibe within the group, a sense of calm that goes beyond work and the job. There is a relaxed and happy atmosphere. It is crucial.

And there you have the mixture you need for Messi to show what he is capable of. Leo has to feel comfortable, and first and foremost he needs to be free. He needs the flexibility to know that he can do whatever is necessary on the pitch at any given moment. In truth, I only discuss the bare minimum with him, merely what is necessary. I dont want to put any extra pressure on him, because the footballers already know the importance of the games, and of their individual contributions to the side.

When you talk about Messi, you need to talk about his development, because, as they say, the hard bit isnt about getting there, its about staying there. So winning four consecutive Ballon dOrs is a sign of great progress. Obviously just winning one Ballon dOr is hard enough, but to win four on the trot is proof positive of just how far he has evolved as a player. During the past few years he has grown to maturity and has developed extraordinary skills that have served to make him increasingly better as a player. It is difficult to maintain, let alone exceed that level of excellence, but somehow he has achieved it.