Lionel Messi would hardly have reached the brilliant heights he has today without the silent contributions of those who believed in him from the very beginning.
Behind the success of heroes there are always silent contributions from people who are rarely mentioned, but without them, there would be no heroes for fans to worship.
Lionel Messi’s story in Argentina is no exception. Messi has made history in world football with a great collection of titles after winning the 2022 World Cup, but besides his outstanding talent, Messi’s success is due to the dedicated people who quietly contribute and support him.
Omar Souto, the first person to contact Messi to play for the Argentina team.
In the Argentina national team, there are two heroes who have silently helped Messi like that. Although they are not mentioned by name, they are the ones who brought the love of the blue and white Argentina shirt to Messi. One of them is Omar Souto, the former coach of the Argentina youth team who contacted Messi to play for the Argentina national team, instead of wearing the Spanish shirt.
The Argentine national team members call Omar “The Godfather”. He is the oldest member of the Albiceleste squad at the 2022 World Cup, although he is not on the list of assistants to coach Lionel Scaloni.
Back in 2003, after an unsuccessful U17 World Cup in Finland (Argentina U17 only won the bronze medal), the Argentine Football Association (AFA) started looking for a young player named Lionel Messi.
Omar is the person assigned to directly contact Messi. He is in charge of the youth team and has worked at other levels, so he has a lot of experience working with young players.
” I want you to contact a player who plays for Barcelona ,” said the AFA representative. ” Who? ” Omar asked back. ” It’s Messi! Leo Messi .”
Omar’s journey to contact Messi was not simple. He tried to contact Newell’s Old Boys and River Plate, two of Argentina’s top clubs, but there was no information about Messi. Omar then searched the phone book of the city of Rosario (Santa Fe province), knowing only that Messi was from Rosario, and then searched for Messi’s family number.
” The first phone call, I called Messi’s grandmother. She then gave me his uncle’s number, then Messi’s uncle gave me his father’s number. I called Messi’s father, introduced myself as being from AFA and wanted to meet this young talent.
The only thing I got wrong was Messi’s name. I knew people called him Leo. I thought Leo was short for Leonardo because that’s what it was. I told Messi’s dad that I wanted to meet Leonardo Messi. He said, ‘No, no. My son’s name is Lionel Messi. He wants to play for Argentina,’ ” Omar recalled.
Messi (right) refused to play for Spain to wait for Argentina.
Omar’s next task was to call up Lionel Messi to play for Argentina. The friendly match against Paraguay (June 29, 2004) came at the right time. Messi was called up to the national team and Omar was the one who arranged for the striker born in 1987 to have his first training session.
At that time, Messi was only 17 years old. The former Newell’s Old Boy did not know any of his teammates, except for Lautaro Formica, who had played with Messi in the youth team.
That’s when Mario Di Stefano (aka Marito), the youth coach, came in. Marito helped Messi open up to the national team. ” When Messi first came out, he was an introvert. He didn’t talk, he just rubbed his nose ,” Marito recalls.
Omar remembers Messi’s first training session with the Argentina national team very well. ” He was accompanied by his father and his agent. The fitness coach at the time, Gerardo Salorio, came and asked Messi to cut his hair. I told Messi not to listen to him.
“Messi only wants to play for Argentina. I was angry when people said Messi did not feel the spirit of this shirt. Remember when I spoke to the leaders of the Spanish team at the World Cup, they told me that they approached Messi at all costs but he never wanted to play for Spain ,” Omar affirmed.
Like Omar, Marito has been quietly supporting Messi for many years. With 30 years of experience working for AFA, he understands Messi well enough to write a memoir for the superstar. During the 18 years Messi played for Argentina, Marito was the 35-year-old superstar’s most trusted supporter. Marito still remembers every tournament Messi participated in, from glory to failure.
Marito, Souto and Messi have participated from the 2005 U20 World Cup in the Netherlands, the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the 2021 Copa America in Brazil, the Finalissima final to the 2022 World Cup.
According to Ole , it is the perfect combination. Messi is talented, but thanks to the silent team that always supports and protects him in every aspect, the Argentine superstar has reached the highest level.
