‘Messi is from another planet’: As his legendary career winds down, fans sing his praises

From KERA News:

Soccer fans across the world are keeping an eye on the Argentina national team this year, knowing that history could be made.

And unless you’ve been living under a rock for two decades, there’s a big name on the team’s roster that you’ve heard before.

Argentine superstar player Lionel Messi, who’s about to turn 39 years old, is coming to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the World Cup.

This is the sixth time he’s appeared in the tournament. The jury is still out on whether this one will be his last, but it’s likely.

At last week’s game against Algeria in Kansas City, fans came out in droves to see him play.

The match against the African nation ended three-nil, with Messi scoring a historic hat trick. He’s now tied at 16 goals with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the most men’s World Cup goals in one player’s career. And Messi might break that record when he plays in North Texas Monday.

In Kansas City, Oscar Quiroga soaked in Messi’s “last dance.”

“Messi is from another planet,” Quiroga said. “I can tell you right now, he does not do things normally.”

Another young fan in Kansas City, Jeremy Rodriguez, traveled from Nicaragua to see Messi play.

“It was, like, the best game ever,” Rodriguez said. “That was so cool. Three goals from Messi.”

So despite his career potentially winding down, what still makes Messi, well, Messi?

Fans here in the Metroplex enjoyed the match against Algeria from afar.

At Argentina 163, a Euless restaurant hosting a crowded watch party, fans weighed in on Messi’s career and the team’s chances to make it to the end.

Carolina Rivarola is from Argentina and lives in North Texas. She said Messi is the best player in the world, someone who “shows everybody who’s the boss.”

But in her eyes, it might be time for younger players to move up the ladder.

“Even though Messi is great, the other players are great, too. Give room for the new ones, you know?” Rivarola said. “If not, we’re not going to have teams, everybody’s going to get old.”

Speaking of age, another fan at the watch party, Dylan Echols was skeptical of Argentina’s chances.

“There’s way too much talent in other countries,” Echols said. “Argentina is a very old squad. They won the last World Cup. I think it’s very hard to repeat wins of a World Cup.”

Messi led his team to the World Cup title in Qatar. It would be a big deal, to put it mildly, for Argentina to take home the title two tournaments in a row.

Venezuelan sports journalist Tomy Arguelles thinks although this is likely Messi’s last World Cup, he’ll try to repeat the title.

“This is a player that has a big gift and probably, in some games, will be on the bench,” Arguelles said. “But he is still very dangerous.”

Arguelles pointed to another key part of Messi’s legacy: his longtime rivalry with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s currently 41.

Arguelles said while Ronaldo has notched a number of important wins, the World Cup is the only thing missing for him.

But the cards are still on the table, so to speak. Matches deeper into the tournament are still taking shape.

There’s a chance a showdown to remember, between two legends moving toward the ends of their careers, will happen here.

Argentina faces Austria Monday, June 22, at Dallas Stadium in Arlington.

KCUR’s Frank Morris contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said Messi was tied for most World Cup goals. This has been updated to specify the men’s World Cup. As of this writing, the record for both the men’s and women’s World Cup is held by Brazilian player Mata, at 17 goals.

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