Chapter 626: Messi Under Fire, Diego Costa's Dirty Tricks!
If, before the World Cup started, someone had told Argentina fans and Messi supporters that Argentina would be eliminated in the Round of 16, they would have been called crazy.
However, after witnessing Argentina's poor performance in the group stage, many seem to have accepted this outcome.
Moreover, the fact that they were knocked out by a powerful French team made the result even more understandable.
But for fans in Argentina, this result was still hard to swallow. Naturally, the biggest blame fell on Messi.
After the match, criticism of Messi flooded in from all directions.
Some extreme Argentine fans even took to the streets, burning Messi's jerseys in public.
Others gathered outside his home in Argentina, holding signs demanding he leave the country and shouting insults at him.
It wasn't just ordinary fans who were disappointed or even furious with Messi. Some Argentine football legends also stepped forward to criticize him.
Mario Kempes, the legendary Argentine player, spoke to reporters from the renowned Argentine media outlet Olé, publicly criticizing Messi for achieving nothing in his 10 years with the national team, even calling for him to retire from international football.
"During Messi's 10 years with Argentina, I've never seen him deliver a truly outstanding performance. Many people call him the best player in the world, but it seems that only applies when he's playing for Barcelona. At least in the national team, he hasn't proven himself. I don't want to criticize a player's attitude, but if he prefers to stay in the comfort of his club, then he should just leave the national team."
Kempes' harsh comments caused a huge stir. As a national hero who led Argentina to its first World Cup victory, Kempes holds a place in Argentine football history rivaled only by Maradona. His words put Messi in a very difficult position.
With Kempes leading the charge, others soon followed, launching attacks on Messi from every angle.
An American sports show host went so far as to call Messi a fraud, claiming that all his success at Barcelona was due to his teammates and that without them, Messi was nothing.
"The greatest players I've seen can succeed with any teammates!"
"Look at Ronaldo, look at Lin—they've both proven themselves on different teams. But Messi has only ever proven himself at Barcelona. So, let's cut the nonsense. If Messi can prove himself on another team, I'll apologize for what I said today. Otherwise, admit the truth—Messi is just a system player. Outside of Barcelona, he's nothing!"
This host's comments spread rapidly through television and social media, igniting a massive debate.
Messi's supporters and detractors clashed fiercely, both online and offline.
Messi's fans called the host's comments absurd, arguing that Messi's greatness was obvious to anyone with functioning eyes.
"Haha, this host is just a clown trying to get attention! Over the past decade, countless top players from elite leagues have praised Messi, including legends like Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry. Are those players less knowledgeable than some half-baked host?"
"Exactly! This host is clearly a die-hard Ronaldo fan. Naturally, he can't say anything good about Messi, and his argument doesn't hold water."
Opponents, however, ignored these points and focused on one simple question:
"If Messi is so great, why hasn't he left Barcelona to prove he isn't just a system player?"
This idea wasn't new in the football world. For a long time, some had believed Messi's success was tied to Barcelona's system.
At first, this idea didn't gain much traction. But as Argentina continued to fail in both the World Cup and Copa América, and as Messi's performances with the national team fell short, more people began to seriously consider the possibility.
And after Messi led Argentina to yet another World Cup failure, these doubts reached their peak.
What made things worse was that with Argentine football legends publicly calling for Messi to retire from the national team, his international career looked bleak.
If he couldn't prove himself with the national team, leaving Barcelona seemed like the only option left.
But for Messi, who had just turned 31, leaving the club he'd been with for over a decade to join a new and unfamiliar team would be a huge risk.
Moreover, it was unlikely that Barcelona would let him go. So the chances of Messi leaving Barcelona seemed slim.
…
Upon hearing about Messi's situation, Guardiola sighed heavily. He wanted to call Messi to comfort him, but when he tried, he found that Messi's phone was already turned off.
"Forget it. He's probably thinking deeply about the path he wants to take," Guardiola thought.
Lin Quan, on the other hand, didn't have a close relationship with Messi. They hadn't interacted much, so Lin Quan felt no sympathy for Messi's plight.
Reflecting on it, Lin Quan thought Messi's performance with the national team had indeed been surprisingly bad—not bad in a good way, but in a disappointing way.
It reminded Lin Quan of how Chinese fans criticized their own national players. Some players performed exceptionally well for their clubs, but when they played for the national team, they crumbled and became easy targets.
This naturally led people to wonder if they were just not putting in the effort.
In the case of those players, Lin Quan thought they might simply lack talent. But for Messi, a player just shy of being crowned the king of football, it made sense for people to question him.
Rather than feeling sorry for Messi, Lin Quan preferred to focus on the upcoming match.
The host team for this World Cup wasn't weak. While they weren't as strong as Brazil in 2014, they were certainly stronger than South Africa in 2010.
Drawing the host nation was neither a great nor terrible result for Spain.
The good news was that Russia wasn't an extremely strong team, so Spain had avoided a tougher opponent from the group stage.
The bad news was that Russia was the host, meaning that every stadium would essentially be their home ground, and they might even benefit from favorable referee decisions.
And the influence of referees could be huge—it could even determine the outcome of the match.
This was something that couldn't be taken lightly.
…
On July 1st, at precisely 5:00 PM, Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium was packed to capacity, with over 80,000 fans filling the stands. The massive stadium was completely full.
As the Spanish players stepped onto the field, they were surprised to see large numbers of fans in red Spain jerseys scattered throughout the stands.
"Whoa, there are so many of them! I thought the Russians would completely take over the stadium today."
"This place holds about 70 or 80 thousand people, right? It looks like our fans make up about half!"
"I heard in the media that over 100,000 Spanish fans have come to watch the World Cup!"
"Really? That many?"
The players were amazed. Spain's population isn't particularly large, with only about 40 million people—several million fewer than larger nations like Germany, France, or the UK.
For 100,000 Spaniards to travel thousands of miles to watch football was astonishing.
Spain's economy wasn't as strong as other Western European countries, so theoretically, not many fans should have been able to afford the trip.
Unless they were only attending one match, staying for ten or twenty days, plus food, accommodation, and tickets, could easily cost thousands of euros, or even more.
For most Spaniards, that kind of money was a lot, but they were willing to spend it to support their national team.
It was clear to Lin Quan how deeply football was ingrained in the hearts of the Spanish people. No wonder Spain's football level was so high—this kind of passionate atmosphere had to contribute to it.
Russian fans, on the other hand, were feeling a bit embarrassed. It was their home ground, but they seemed to be outnumbered by the visiting Spanish fans.
What was going on?
In response, some Russian fans began to lead the crowd in chanting and cheering to support their team.
But the stadium wasn't divided into separate sections, so the fans from both sides were mixed together. Spanish fans were everywhere, making it hard for the Russian cheers to unite and project any real force, often being drowned out by the opposing side.
When the match began, the referee quickly blew the whistle to start the game.
Right from the kickoff, Russia tried to take advantage of their home-field advantage by launching an early attack on Spain.
For weaker teams, getting an early lead would allow them to fall back and focus on defending while launching counterattacks.
Spain liked to press high, leaving space behind their defense. If Russia could capitalize on one or two efficient counterattacks, they could potentially win the game.
However, Spain had done their homework and were well-prepared for this strategy.
When Russia pushed forward, they found themselves facing a well-organized Spanish defense, and they struggled to find a way through.
Spain's defense was tightly packed in the center, so Russia was forced to move the ball to the wings, hoping for a cross to create a scoring chance.
But Spain's full-backs pressured the Russian wingers, leading to poor-quality crosses that were easily caught by Spain's goalkeeper, David de Gea.
De Gea wasted no time, using his powerful arms to throw the ball far upfield to a teammate on the wing.
Isco received the ball and sent a diagonal pass to the middle, where Diego Costa was waiting. Costa charged toward the Russian penalty box, and Spain launched a lightning-fast counterattack.
Most of Russia's players were still in Spain's half and couldn't get back in time.
Their only hope was defender Sergei Ignashevich, who quickly turned and raced back to catch up with Diego Costa, trying to use his body to disrupt Costa's rhythm.
But Ignashevich didn't understand Costa's notorious playing style. Costa was famous for his dirty tricks.
As they ran, Costa not only used his body to battle Ignashevich, but he also sneakily grabbed at the defender's shirt.
And he didn't stop at the shirt—he even pinched Ignashevich's skin.
Furious, Ignashevich shoved Costa.
But Costa had anticipated this move. Instead of falling, the shove actually helped him break free from Ignashevich's defense.
Uh-oh.
He realized too late—he had fallen into Costa's trap!
Costa stumbled slightly but managed to charge into the box with the ball.
The referee had his whistle ready in his mouth. As soon as Costa went down, he would blow it and call the foul on the Russian defender.
Of course, the referee saw clearly that the foul had taken place outside the box, so there would be no penalty, but still a dangerous free kick.
Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev rushed out to close down Costa, who saw the keeper's legs open and tried to shoot through them. But Akinfeev, experienced and quick, snapped his legs shut and blocked the shot.
Seeing his shot saved, Costa slapped his thigh in frustration.
Damn, if I had known, I would've just screamed and gone down. Maybe I could've earned a red card!
Shaking his head, Costa turned and began jogging back toward his own half.
As he passed Ignashevich, he heard the defender mutter, "Trash."
Costa flashed a wide, mocking grin and replied, "Wow, such strength! Almost as strong as my 80-year-old grandmother!"
He laughed out loud as he walked away, clearly amused by his own taunt.
Ignashevich, whose English wasn't great, took a moment to process what Costa had said.
Wait, did he just insult my strength?
It dawned on him that Costa was mocking him for failing to knock him down with that shove.
Angry, Ignashevich resolved to get his revenge later in the match, determined to teach Costa a lesson.
Costa, outwardly indifferent to Ignashevich's reaction, was secretly watching him closely.
Seeing that his taunt had worked, Costa was pleased.
It was so easy to provoke the Russian. No wonder—just like vodka, they explode with the slightest spark!
If this had been a Premier League match, the experienced players there wouldn't have been fazed by such mild insults. They'd probably even respond with even harsher words, with plenty of colorful language thrown in for good measure.
"What did you just say to him?" Isco asked curiously as Costa fell back into position.
"I was just bonding with him. Who knows? He might even ask for my autograph after the match!" Costa said with a straight face.
The innocent Isco was momentarily taken in by Costa's joke, standing there looking confused as if he really believed him.
Lin Quan, watching from nearby, felt a little bad for Isco but even worse for the Russian defender.
Getting caught in Costa's sights was never a good thing!
(End of Chapter)