The unwritten rule is that you don't have to make Leo Messi angry. Because he gets into the game. It connects. He changes his face. He gets that look in which he only sees the goal. Just his goal. And it doesn't stop until he makes you pay dearly.
There are thousands of examples. That is not a set phrase. Because the Argentine played his 1,000th game against Australia.
At the Camp Nou they know it well. 778 of those thousand appearances were with Barça. They have seen the sequence countless times. When a rival made the switch jump, the Barcelona fans almost rubbed their hands. It was the prelude that something good was coming. Action Reaction. They sensed the show. They asked for popcorn.
It was clear to the opposing defenders who, by dint of suffering it in their flesh, learned to compete against him but without awakening the beast. That's how it was in the League, it's in the Champions League and the defenders of the French championship are supposed to begin to draw the same conclusion.
But there is a player who was still unaware of it. Not anymore.
His name is Aziz Behich and you will wonder where he has been hiding all this time. Behich, an Australian left-back of Turkish Cypriot origin, has played for Melbourne City, was in various Turkish teams, spent a few months at PSV in the Netherlands and is now a member of Scotland's Dundee United. But once is enough to realize the devastating power of the most unbalancing soccer player in the world.
Messi had overlooked a free kick by Duke as soon as he started, nor was he angry at having Mooy on top of him almost always, nor was he turned on because Souttar left his foot on the iron after clearing the danger. Instead, what triggered him was that Leo decided to go to press and he, when he goes, usually does not give up until he steals the ball. It was intense and forced Behich back so far that the ball went over the touchline. Wanting to protect possession, the defender grabbed Messi's shirt by the chest and did not let go. Both seemed to dance a passionate tango because the captain of the albiceleste went to the end.
The referee asked for calm. But Messi had clicked. Danger was coming for Australia. He was going to be fatal. Said and done. The 10 drew a free kick, Otamendi lost control backwards in the area and Messi, who was passing by, lit up. With the inside he placed the ball low and soft to the net. Ryan dove but missed her. So easy for him and so difficult for the rest.
Messi opened the scoring with his ninth goal in the World Cups. One more than Maradona, one less than Batistuta. He was the first in playoffs. In the previous four World Cups he couldn't. But this one is different. And he paved the way for there to be a 1,001 game against the Netherlands for a semi-final spot.
From the Olímpic de Montjuïc, where he made his debut in a derby against Espanyol on October 16, 2004, to the Ahmad bin Ali stadium in Al Rayyan. From a match in which he entered as a youth player in the 82nd minute, substituting Deco, to a match where everyone chanted his name. From a promising debut to a round of 16 of a World Cup with responsibility.
There will be no more matches on that field in the World Cup. In the future it may house a plaque: "Here Messi played his 1,000th game and scored his 789th goal."
