Due to a curiosity about who this new star from Argentina was, I started to watch him in the 2008/09 season, after spending afternoons and later watching compilations of his matches. I decided: I'm going to watch a Lionel Messi match. At that time it was not so easy to watch, as not all matches were broadcast. I, however, saw a chance to watch him in the Osasuna-Barcelona match, so I didn't let that opportunity slip away.

I didn't know what to expect as I had never watched a full football match before. I only knew a few players, but I was always looking at Messi, what he could do with the ball.

I must say that I saw a thrilling  match. Barcelona opened the scoring, Osasuna turned the game around, Barcelona tied, and Messi, after an individual move, through a shot in the right corner of the goalkeeper, turned the game back to Barcelona. It was an exceptional first impression I had of that player. After that, I couldn't stop watching him play.

I saw every moment of Lionel Messi's career, whether good or bad on the pitch. I grew up watching Messi play. As he walked his brilliant path, his brilliant career, I saw him revered in Spain and almost everywhere in the world, but massacred in Argentina. I always wanted Messi to win some title for his people, because I would know that he would finally be seen with the same eyes that the Blaugrana fans have in front of their biggest idol.

Messi reached several times in decisions for his national team, but he had never reached the point of winning the title, however close he had come. The defeats in the 2014 World Cup and Copa America 2015 & 2016 finals left him very scarred, heavily criticized to the point where he even said that the national team was not for him, that he was giving up playing for the Albiceleste.

The criticisms came, they were heavy and very incisive to the Argentine star. As his age advanced, it was thought that he would never achieve anything for his national team. However, after the 2019 Copa América, his trajectory changed completely. Through the excellent work of coach Lionel Scaloni, and a united, fortified group that would fight battles and more battles for its leader, Messi had his chances, therefore being the main star of each title won until the World Cup.

The tournament didn't start well, no. Argentina had to find itself again during the competition, through its leader and its coach. Gradually, the team improved, going through phase after phase, and, through the support of the unmatched Argentine crowd, the team reached further rounds. Messi is the ultimate star.

In Buenos Aires, in the main square, a myriad of people call out his name, as if they were calling out to a God. They revere his moves, his art, his goals, as if they were the last to be made. With each spear of the Argentine genius, his people follow him as if the leader were guiding them to the maximum glory. And they got there.

On what is the greatest stage of all time, a true battle was fought; the battle of battles. Never before has anything so spectacular been presented at the highest level of world football. The stage was set, the plot had been written — the very plot that couldn't have been written in the most epic, most dramatic way possible.

As much as this last match put the emotions of its people to the test, the stage closed for Argentina's third world championship side. And its star player finally received the ultimate honor, the ultimate glory of leading, at the age of 35, his nation to the long-awaited cup.

After following his entire career, from a very young age, I can only thank him for all the moments I saw him win; in which I saw him lose; in which I saw him conquer and bring joy within the four lines.

Thank you, Messi. Thank you for everything.