Messi breaks World Cup scoring record in Argentina win
How is Lionel Messi still breaking World Cup records just two days shy of turning 39? CNN's Becky Anderson gets the answer from Argentine sports journalist Marcela Mora y Araujo, who's covered the soccer legend for years.
Video Transcript
Is he man or machine?
We have to ask ourselves this.
At 38, you gotta wonder whether he is completely unique or whether perhaps he's ushering in a new era for footballers who are gonna be fitter both sort of, you know, physically and psychologically going forward and able to play for longer.
Which is he?
Hello.
Thank you for having me.
I think that's a really, good point.
I mean, he's actually 39 tomorrow, so saying he's 38, it's almost like a, you know, knocking some- That's all right some years off to make him appear younger.
But, you know, we also have- Cristiano Ronaldo who, over 40, and I was reading some really interesting, analysis of what's going on with these athletes that are so fit even in their, in their sort of w- well, y- you know, in a field where essentially mid to late 20s you were, you were considered past it.
They obviously work very hard at it.
What I think is interesting is something you touched on, which is not just physically, but Messi, whose, incredible prowess and genius used to have a lot to do with his speed at which he could, either make decisions or even keep the ball, you know, hop on one leg and get the ball and carry on on that same leg and so on at great speed, in these past couple of games we've seen him also be incredibly effective while apparently standing still.
You know?
So he's obviously, like, doing a mental thing as well- and maybe just not running so much, but reading all the- Yeah faces and knowing where his teammates are gonna be and making the most of that.
Yeah.
And I guess the pressure's off, isn't it?
I mean, they won in 2022.
He got his World Cup sort of glory.
and I guess the pressure's off to a degree this time.
We were talking about this as a team and saying that psychologically, you know, he's just, he just seems to be enjoying himself at the moment.
These are fans, and I wanna show our viewers a video of fans celebrating in Buenos Aires.
But you say that the Argentinian public's relationship with Messi is complicated.
Explain.
Well, I say, the, the, the, a, a national, an entire nation is not a single sort of, you know, a homogeneous, um- Eh, we, we can't say, "Oh, Argentina this or Argentina that."
I think, because he comes in the tails of, of Diego Maradona, who was an incredible sort of larger than life and very divisive figure, but had won a World Cup for Argentina and had also kind of become a symbol of Argentina.
Messi seemed to struggle for many, many years.
Although he delivered at club level and he was widely regarded the best in the world, he seemed to struggle to have that same sort of position in the Argentinian psyche.
Now, as you say, he won the World cup, he's won Copa Americas, he's delivered what was- Delivered expected of him, and one for himself, I think, because it was, it mattered to him.
So this should be completely- sort of pre- free, lovely end of, of his career in a, in a love-in, in a blissful love-in.
the press and the pundits are absolutely- they will say nothing wrong.
The entire internet seems to be in adulation.
Other players are saying he's the best.
But I think the Argentinian public generally, beyond the football, have a, a less intense l- both positive and negative relationship than they did with Maradona simply because he's a little bit of an unknown entity- That's really interesting still, maybe
