BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – A mural of a young Lionel Messi dressed in a Newell’s Old Boys jersey, tiny and barefoot with a football in front of him, inspires many young people from the Youth School of the Argentine club to dream. succeeding as his local hero.
Messi’s wonderful resolve to leave European club Barcelona this week sparked implausible dreams among the citizens of Rosario, the city three hundred kilometers north of Buenos Aires where he was born, that he would play again with the local team, Newell’s Old Boys.
Hundreds of Newell fans on Thursday formed a noisy and colorful caravan of cars that ran from the Marcelo Bielsa stadium in Rosario to its monument to the flag, the symbol of this town on the banks of the Paraná. Many participants put on Newell’s red and black shirts and waved the club’s flags, honking their horns and activating flares.
“All of Argentina to see you smile,” reads a sign in a car window.
Newell enthusiasts know they don’t have the millions to offer the 33-year-old superstar the owners of European clubs Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or Inter Milan. These clubs are Messi’s most likely destinations.
His strategy is to play the center of one of the biggest stars in world football and for him to solve a remarkable challenge in his career: to bet on professional football in Argentina, which he did not because he went to Europe at 13.
“Our festival with other clubs is not economical or sporting, what we are offering Messi is a possibility to rediscover the amateur roots of his education and let him do it in his hometown,” amateur Roberto Mensi said, in statements to the related press. at the Falklands complex, Newell’s youth football school.
The now-known photographs of a small Messi escaping much larger war games in 7-on-7 matches in the category of the so-called “bath football” in Argentina were filmed here, surrounded by red and black walls.
The Argentine team did not have to pay for a hormonal expansion remedy for Messi, so his father took Messi to Barcelona when he was young.
Although he has spent more than part of his life in Catalonia, Messi returns to Rosario every year for Christmas and in the afterlife has publicly stated that he would like to play in Newell.
This has led the locals to ask themselves: why now?
“The news (of Messi’s resolve to leave Barcelona) has created illusions for us,” Mensi acknowledged. “We know that this may not be the time for this to happen, but we must show that the door is open for Leo to return when he needs it. People have a lot of affection for him.”