The beauty of the sports universe is that it consists of many different worlds. There are as many as there are sports disciplines. In recent weeks, we have watched as spectators what has happened in the soccer galaxy. Probably the most widely followed. Its top heroes reached the semifinals, playing two European teams France and Croatia, one South American, Argentina, and one African, Morocco. Audience and experts decreed that the best was Leo Messi, who had already won almost everything, he lacked the World Cup that he has now won with Argentina.
Soccer excites us and its understanding is immediate: you jump over the opponent or get blocked, you shoot at goal and score or get parried, you win a contrast or lose it, it only takes one goal to win. In reality, it is much more complex but the children who play it and we who watch it do not go much beyond these simple observations. In this context, the champion emerges, the one who in the decisive moments does not betray you, who often determines the result, the player the opponents fear the most and the one everyone goes after to limit his action with the knowledge that it will be very difficult to stop him from doing what he wants. This is what we love about soccer, and this is what every young person who plays with the jersey of his favorite champion identifies with.
Asking who is the all-time soccer number makes sense since soccer is experienced in this very emotional way. It is not just about talking about the emotions that a game arouses, but about the emotional bond, of love, that binds us to the champion. In this comparison, the one who plays in the present wins; we can all see him and witness his exploits, so the comparison is no longer between Pelé, the distant past, and Maradona, the near past, but between the latter and today’s dominator, Messi, who represents the present. Thus it is likely that in a few years the comparison will be between Messi and Mbappé. Now, however, the best ever is Leo Messi, who to be so had to win this title by overcoming an equally successful opponent of the present. The challenge of a decade between Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi, in Golden Ball and and achievements, represented this challenge. Ronaldo ultimately lost because, like Hector versus Achilles, he was abandoned by the gods, represented by his own narcissism, which prevented him from finding other solutions to the peremptory impact of age. He could not put himself at the service of the team, give up something of himself for the greater good, and he paid the highest price. The king is dead, long live Messi.
