Human history is built on legends and fairy tales. The battle of Troy, the labours of Hercules, and the adventures of King Arthur, are all embellished accounts of actual people and real incidents, only exaggerated as they were passed down through generations. Modern technology has robbed people of this myth-building. Future generations will not have to depend on retellings to learn about the present, as they will simply watch it on their screens. One of the greatest legends of this generation is Lionel Messi. On Tuesday, the maestro will play his final match for Argentina against Benin in Buenos Aires, but there is enough video evidence of his talent to tell the next generations who he was. But what if there wasn’t any evidence? What if Messi's story had survived only through retellings, in a world where football doesn’t exist anymore, a world where the current borders have been replaced with new ones, what would the story read like? The following is an attempt at writing that tale, the legend of Messi.
Once upon a time, there lived a little boy. Born in a garden of roses, he was frail, little and looked ordinary in every way.
But little did anyone know, his feet were magic.
With a round orb between his feet, the small, frail boy would become untouchable, leaving kids twice his size in a tangled heap and the audience at a standstill, too mesmerized to speak.
He seemed destined to become the greatest wizard of all time. But alas, the boy was cursed. A wicked witch had cast an evil spell, and the boy was to never grow up.
The only way for him to break the spell was to travel to the city built around Hercules’ wrecked ninth boat.
And so, the boy left the garden of roses, travelled to the far-away land.
After years of hardships, the curse was lifted. As the boy turned into a man, his abilities grew exponentially. His duels with another wizard, born on an island of wood, were legendary, lasted decades and ended in mutual respect.
That city had accepted him as their own, but the wizard’s heart ached for the garden of roses where he was born.
However, the years of separation had turned the people of his native land wary. They treated him as an outsider. No matter how hard he tried, he remained a stranger to his own people.
He thought conjuring up laurels would earn him acceptance. And so he waged in many battles, giving his all to win prized jewels for his people, but as fate would have it, he would repeatedly fall one step short.
Unable to deal with his failures, he decided to stop. But the threat of not seeing his magic anymore opened the eyes of his homeland.
The same people who had looked at him with suspicion pleaded for his return. And return he did, adorned in his blue and white robe, to conjure magic once more.
The failures only hardened his resolve, as he broke the deadlock by acquiring the shiniest jewel of the Amazon.
But his sight was set on an even greater prize – one that his countrymen had been yearning for eons.
The moment finally arrived in the middle of a desert. He won in a duel of the ages against the Gallic brigade and sealed his legacy as the greatest of all time.
The story should have ended right there, but it didn’t.
Overwhelmed by the happiness of his people, the wizard, now nearing the end of his wizarding days, decided to put on his robe one more time.
He pushed out every last ounce of magic left in him, and for a moment, it seemed like he would do it again.
But in the final battle, he came up against a coterie of young wizards, who had learnt the magic of the orb from the same city he had, and was bested.
The seeds of this defeat were sown long ago, when unwittingly, he had transferred some of his magic to one of the boys, who was both trustworthy and charming.
His and the hearts of millions who adored him shattered into pieces as his tale ended in heartbreak.
But this time, his failure was not met with ridicule, but with gratitude. His people now understood how blessed they were that the wizard belonged to them.
As the wizard arrived to put on one last show, his homeland prepared the grandest farewell of all.
Millions clapped, even more shed tears, as the wizard hung up his blue and white robe and walked off into the sunset.
A boy born in a garden of roses, whose feet conquered the world,
And as long as time remains, the tale of Lionel Messi will always live on.
NB:
Garden of Roses: Rosario
City built around Hercules’ wrecked ninth boat: Barcelona
Orb: Football
Gallic brigade: France
Trustworthy: Lamine
Charming: Yamal
Shiniest jewel of the Amazon: Copa America
Island of wood: Madeira