MIAMI – When Lionel Messi finally added the title “World Cup champion” to his career résumé last December, it seemed like there were no expectations left for him to meet. No boxes left to check. Nothing more to accomplish after nearly two decades at the most elite of all soccer levels.
“He’s not carrying around that large backpack anymore,” former Argentina coach Tata Martino said Thursday, referring symbolically to the burden Messi felt until he managed to secure soccer’s ultimate international prize. “He’s at a good moment in time.”
Yet as Messi prepares to begin the latest – and possibly last – chapter of his playing days, there is some lingering pressure and expectation. When he agreed to join Inter Miami and step into what is, for him at least, the relative unknown of Major League Soccer, it came with an unspoken promise. To elevate American soccer to a fresh level.
People want to see him, they are interested in him, and the games in MLS and the Leagues Cup tournament (featuring both MLS and Liga MX squads from Mexico) that feature him take on a new significance. The best player of his generation is here, and the goalposts have shifted.
But the best way for Messi to be an American soccer evangelist is relatively simple: Focus on the soccer. Go light on the evangelism.
Soccer in the United States has grown enough that it doesn’t need the 36-year-old to play the whole celebrity athlete card, doing the rounds of talk shows, promotional appearances and endless media interviews.
It needs Messi to play, to shine and to win.
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Alexi Lalas and David Mosse break down whether they believe it should be anticipated that Lionel Messi will be treated differently in Miami.
“We have a plan,” added Martino, who was named Inter Miami’s new coach on June 28. “The plan will work better if we have good results.”
That’s an understatement. American soccer is beyond gimmicks. The early days of MLS in the late 1990s were important, but the league arguably tried too hard to appease what they thought an American audience wanted.
There were contrived shootouts from a 35-yard line to settle ties. Some uniforms could politely be described as garish. Many of the imports who came were decidedly past their prime.
When American soccer grew up, its audience grew too. What you see now in MLS is more in keeping with what you might expect at a European or South American contest. Wages have increased, and so have the crowds.
That said, such an evolution brings different realities. Even when David Beckham came 15 years ago, there was a large publicity element to his job description. Not so with Messi.
On Thursday, a press conference was staged ahead of Messi’s expected debut against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup (Friday, 7 p.m. ET). Martino spoke alongside fellow new signing Sergio Busquets, the Spain international who played with Messi at Barcelona.
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Alexi Lalas and David Mosse react Tata Martin being named Inter Miami head coach, as he is set to reunite with Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets.
Messi was not present. Get used to it. He’s not going to say much before games, after games, or between games.
But what might have been slightly irksome for the gathered reporters actually matters little in the grand scheme of things.
Messi doesn’t like talking to the press much to begin with, and the simple fact is that there is nothing he can say that would outstrip the impact of a brilliant goal, a surge in Inter Miami’s fortunes and perhaps an MLS Cup title over the next couple of years. It is with his feet and his trickery, not with his mouth and his personality, that Messi can further boost the profile of the league he has joined. It will be with his performances.
Competitiveness is at the core of everything the 36-year-old does. He has won everything soccer has to offer, and it is hard to think he won’t want to win some more.
The Leagues Cup is an opportunity for Inter Miami to breathe some life into what has been a demoralizing season, with the team mired at the bottom of MLS’ Eastern Conference. Cruz Azul, enduring struggles of its own in Liga MX, is aware the main reason people will be paying attention to Friday’s game is to see Messi, not them.
Yet Cruz Azul coach Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti senses Messi’s spirit and gave his own prediction for what comes next.
“He loves football,” Ferretti told reporters. “Messi loves it. If he was already tired of it, he wouldn’t have come here. He came here to promote the sport, yes. But he can’t come here and kind of ruin all of the experiences he’s previously had. He is here because he still feels passionate about soccer.”
And the way that passion plays out for Messi, is not by describing it, but by doing it.
All American sports have an element of showbiz about them, but Messi is a pure sporting animal. If he is to be the kind of game-changer so many hope for, it will be dominating the games, not talking about them.
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.
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