• Messi’s historic moment
• Messi on the threshold of heaven

With the 2022 World Cup championship, Lionel Messi has affirmed his position as the greatest player in history. Everything related to the Argentine superstar, especially the shirt he wears, has become something that many people, not only fans, but also famous stars, covet.

The most sought after shirt

Everything related to Messi, especially jerseys, have become the most sought-after products by fans. Before the final match, manufacturer Adidas was “crazed” because Argentina jerseys with the number 10 and Messi’s name were sold out worldwide. And after M10’s Albiceleste is crowned, adidas will certainly have to work at maximum capacity to meet the huge demand from fans. But it’s not just fans who covet Messi’s jersey. Even famous stars and opponents on the field cannot resist the attraction of the shirt Messi wears.

At the 2022 World Cup, Messi’s jersey is probably the most valuable thing after the Gold Medal for the champion. What could be more honorable than owning a shirt with the sweat of the greatest player in world football history on it? But of course, bringing back this “trophy” is not an easy challenge.

Argentina’s victory over France in the final marked the 1,003rd official match for club and national team in Messi’s career. However, that does not mean that there are 1,003 jerseys used by Messi, the actual number could be nearly double.

Many players have the habit of using two jerseys per match and changing to new jerseys during breaks. Messi can be the same, not to mention sometimes forced to do so because opponents ask to change shirts mid-match. For example, in 2012, during Barcelona’s 3-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, two players on the German team’s payroll quarreled over Messi’s jersey.

Michal Kadlec, the only scorer for Bayer Leverkusen, and teammate Manuel Friedrich raised their voices in the tunnel right after the end of the first half to see who would receive Messi’s shirt. This incident caused two stars of the Bundesliga representative to be shamed, and sports director Rudi Voller was forced to speak out and remind them.

In fact, Messi is an extremely principled player and is never the one to proactively ask to change shirts. The only exception was in the early stages of his career, when Messi approached Zinedine Zidane after the match between Barcelona and Real Madrid to ask if he could exchange shirts with the French legend. 

Besides not actively changing shirts, Messi also has another principle, which is to give priority to exchanging shirts with fellow players. In a photo posted to his personal Instagram a few years ago, Messi showed off his collection of teammates’ and opponents’ jerseys, perfectly arranged and displayed.

That collection includes jerseys of Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez, Philipp Lahm, Iker Casillas, the brightest stars in the world at one time. Next to it are the jerseys of two close friends, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero, and Messi’s idol, Pablo Aimar. And yet, there are also the jerseys of Oscar Ustari, Chori Dominguez or Tomas De Vincenti, all of whom are not famous players but are Argentine.

Former Argentina international who played for Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, Maxi Rodriguez shared at the international press center: “I have quite a few Messi jerseys. During my time playing in Spain for Espanyol as well as Atletico Madrid, I played against him many times. We never promised or mentioned exchanging jerseys, we just both will do it whenever we have the opportunity.”

The closer to the end of Messi’s career, the more precious the shirts he wears become. Owning Messi’s jersey even creates… fights. In 2018, the most traditional team in the Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven, even had to issue a statement asking all players not to chase Messi to ask to change jerseys during the break. The team’s coach at the time, former player Mark van Bommel, bluntly declared that it was an “unprofessional” action.

More recently, when he first moved to France to play for PSG, after the end of the match against Reims, Messi was surrounded by 5 opposing players asking for jerseys. With his usual calm demeanor, Messi gently told young Dutch defender Mitchell van Bergen, who had just made his debut, that he could not make the request to exchange shirts because he had promised to give the shirt to someone else. that day.

Those lucky

To get Messi’s jersey sometimes requires… a little luck. A typical example is Matty Cash, a Polish right-back on the Aston Villa payroll. After Poland lost to Argentina with a score of 0-2 in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, while walking into the tunnel, Cash was called back by his Aston Villa teammate, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

“Emi said he wanted to give me a gift and told me to follow him. Arriving in front of Argentina’s dressing room, Emi asked me to wait a moment and then walked out with a Messi shirt. There’s really nothing like the feeling of seeing Messi in real life at this distance. That’s really Messi,” Cash replied at the Mix Zone that day. He can be considered the luckiest player at the 2022 World Cup. In addition to the Messi shirt, which was a gift from Emiliano Martinez, the Polish player also owns Kylian Mbappe’s shirt after the match against France in round 1/ 8.

Cameron Devlin, an Australian player, is also one of the lucky names to have Messi’s jersey at the recent World Cup. After Australia lost to Argentina in the round of 16, Devlin, a substitute player who was not used for a single minute, came on the field to comfort his teammates and then shook hands with Messi.

“I just tried my luck when I asked Messi to change shirts. He said he would meet me inside the tunnel and then we swapped shirts. I thought my teammates who were on the field had the opportunity first but no one took it, so why did I miss it? “Devlin recalled.

As a player on the payroll of the small Scottish team, Hearts, perhaps Devlin will no longer have any chance to exchange shirts with Messi. The 24-year-old midfielder continued: “Surely Messi will not remember that he exchanged shirts with me. I was even really surprised when Messi even got his shirt back. Maybe my jersey later stayed in the dressing room there, but that’s not important.”

Devlin’s thoughts are similar to many players in this era, whether they have the honor to stand side by side or just meet Messi once. Standing in front of the greatest player in history, perhaps everyone becomes small. Owning Messi’s jersey is therefore a precious gift that many people are willing to break all their own rules, forget teammates or player obligations, sometimes even trade their self-esteem for it. get it.

Messi, the 9th wonder of world football

With the 2022 World Cup championship, Lionel Messi has become the 9th player in history to win the most prestigious titles at both the national team, club and individual levels. Those are the World Cup, the Champions League and the Golden Ball. Before M10, there were only 8 legends who could do the same thing, including Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Charlton, Gerd Mueller, Paolo Rossi, Rivaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho and Kaka.

Messi’s trophy collection is even more impressive than the monuments mentioned above. The Argentine superstar has won 7 Golden Balls and 4 Champions League titles. If he continues to maintain his current form, no one will be able to argue for Messi’s 8th Golden Ball. Not to mention he also won all other big and small titles, from the Olympics level, Copa America with the Argentina team or at the club LaLiga, FIFA Club World Cup, European Super Cup… with Barcelona and recently Ligue 1 in the colors of Paris Saint Germain.

On Qatar soil, Messi also set a series of impressive personal milestones. The 35-year-old striker surpassed German legend Lothar Matthaus to become the player with the most appearances at the World Cup (26 matches, 5 World Cups). In addition, he also contributed to a total of 26 goals at the biggest football festival on the planet, with 13 goals and 8 assists. Furthermore, Messi is also the first player in World Cup history to score in every round.