Messi's Unfinished Business

There were few like the great Alfredo Di Stefano. La Saeta arrived in Spain in the early fifties and changed Real Madrid's fortunes forever.

He was the foundation on which los merengues built the best football team of the 20th century. An absolute all around player: skillful, versatile, a tremendous goal scorer. He had the solidarity, vision and tactical intelligence of the true chosen ones.  

Yet despite lifting five consecutive European Cups and his fantastic efficiency in front of the goal, Di Stefano's name is usually left out from the debate to establish the best footballer of all time. Only two seem to belong there: Maradona and Pele.

I can't help thinking that Alfredo's absence from the biggest stage in football—the FIFA World Cup—has something to do with this omittance. No lights shine brighter than when playing during one month for the glorious cup.

Cruyff's and Zidane's names have been added to the debate more often than Alfredo's because their uncontainable talent unwrapped there, defending their national teams and with the whole world watching.

Jump to Lionel Messi, the most promising appearance in football for 20 years. After completing an injury-free season for the first time, he has established himself as the undisputable world's finest footballer. His life fact is already impressive: a magnificent header to win the Champions league final, 30 something goals scored throughout this season—some as beautiful as football can get—a fantastic performance to lead Argentina to the Olympic gold medal and the indescribable feeling that every time this kid touches the ball, something special is about to unfold.

We could go on and on praising Lionel's unique skills, but for all his talent and the accolades already accomplished in his precocious career, there is a tournament he must shine at for his name to be considered among the greatest: South Africa 2010.

Jose Pekerman, Argentina's manager in the 2006 World Cup, decided to give the then young Lionel a peripheral place in a team that left the tournament in quarterfinals, with Messi sitting on the bench without playing a single minute of the decisive game against Germany.

It's an entirely different picture now: Messi has inherited Maradona's number 10 jersey and will arrive in South Africa with the hopes of one of the most football passionate nations resting on his shoulders. No tournament in football is as demanding and allows so little margin of error.

30 days, seven games. Can Messi do it? Can he deal with the pressure of a nation that hasn't reached the semifinals for now twenty years?

And most importantly: can he be as decisive wearing the AFA badge as he is week in, week out at the Camp Nou? Can he live without Xavi and Iniesta, or the quick Eto'o as partners?

The task is huge, but we are asking only because we see him able to deliver.