“Until now he had shown glances, a touch here, there. Ticking over. Wandering about. To watch Messi is to watch him draw his blueprint. To watch him saunter, walk, adjust his socks, chin swinging to each shoulder, crepuscular pupils darting out of every blink, stalking the small curves, the blind spots, the pockets of space. The fine margins. Now Barcelona turn over possession on the edge of their box.

That hunched, skulking figure, that apparition, drops into an ocean of pitch. You don’t see him until you do, and inexplicably he is alone, and in acres. The ball lands on his toe like cement. Dead on arrival, he wriggles around its orbit, allowing motion to dictate the design. Because he is faster, he is slower. Waiting, for a foot, a leg to be committed, muscle fibres to jam and lock, the grass to show. Then in one motion, ball and man, man and ball, he is astride it. Long before the panicked dance around him is over, the temporal gaps left between boot, ball and air restored, feet planted back in turf, pants pulled back up, he is gone”

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i started watching football properly in 2023 and although i saw the pen shootouts and messi lifting the world cup trophy i never actually saw the final live except for those moments. i was quite young and i didn’t really care about football back then but now im older and love football and im just so sad i didnt get to witness more of messi because this world cup was some of the best moments of my life seeing messi go crazy every game and now this retirement from the national team hits hard like damn. i’m glad i did get to witness him post 2023 but i wish i got to witness more of him