This is a viral, politically incorrect and subjective confession, that is to say completely personal and non-transferable, of the feelings I get from the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup that is being played tonight (afternoon there) at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (New York). Whatever happens in the match there is a Spain – country, not team – that has lost. It is Spain that hates Leo Messi because of his past. the one who puts her hand on her heart, shouting lolo, lolo, lololo… when the anthem plays. The one who wants to expel immigrants and who cannot in any way digest that the flagship player of the “red” is the son of immigrants -with a traveling odyssey included-, black, Muslim, from Barça, who speaks Catalan and who, here’s the most serious thing, not only doesn’t hide it, but is proud of it. To top it all off, up to eight players in the “combinado national” are from FC Barcelona and none from Real Madrid (Cucurella has yet to make his debut in the merengue shirt). They are not my team, but they are on my team. And what to say about Leo Messi. Apart from being the best player in history, don’t hesitate! At the age of thirty-nine, he has led the Argentine national team to the second consecutive final of a World Cup. There are no words to describe him and almost no records left to break. He might be retired by now. Other stars who were looking for glory – often dancing more than acting and showing an unworthy loss – have fallen by the wayside. Leo Messi has a place on Olympus, regardless of what he does today. No matter what happens and no matter what happens to many; without being from the “red” or the “albiceleste”, today I feel like a winner.
