After a picture of a young and long-haired Lionel Messi bathing a round-cheeked baby Lamine Yamal from ages ago did the rounds, the people of the internet didn’t waste time to jokingly attribute the Spanish wonderkid’s generational talent to the Argentine legend.
While Yamal won the European Championship with his country on Sunday and bagged the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ award on his own accord, there is one player Messi may have actually helped immensely with a gesture a few weeks back.
It was his compatriot Lautaro Martinez.
On June 15 in Argentina’s friendly match against Guatemala, Messi was seen handing over the ball to Martinez to take the 39th minute penalty, a gesture to boost the latter’s confidence. When the Inter Milan captain converted it, he first looked for his country’s captain to thank him.
Lautaro Martinez of Argentina celebrates with Lionel Messi of Argentina after scoring the team’s first goal during the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 final. | Photo Credit: AFP
“I looked at him, and he gave it to me. I thanked him, and I thank him publicly as well. It’s a gesture from a GREAT, a gentleman both on and off the field. This is very important to me,” he’d told reporters post the match.
On Sunday, Martinez starred for Argentina after his 112th-minute goal in the Copa America 2024 final against Colombia gave La Albiceleste a record-breaking 16th continental title. After netting the match-winner, the forward was seen sprinting to the Argentine bench to embrace Messi, who had been subbed off earlier in the game due to an ankle injury.
That gesture a month ago did pay off, even if it wasn’t directly linked to Martinez’s return to his best form.
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Adapting to a new role
Messi wasn’t the only one on the Argentina team to have Martinez’s back. Head coach Lionel Scaloni has had it for years.
“Lautaro Martinez is the present and the future of Argentina. We are very happy with him,” said Scaloni in an interview with Fox Sports in 2019, more than a year after Martinez made his senior international debut.
In his first few years, Martinez did well to find the net and provide assists consistently, but just ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, he lost his starting spot to rising talent Julian Alvarez.
Alvarez made his Argentina debut in 2021 and became a mainstay in the side after racking up impressive performances at his former club River Plate. It was during the World Cup in Qatar that the youngster outshone Martinez and scored four goals in the tournament.
Alvarez’s goalscoring prowess convinced Scaloni to keep Martinez primarily on the bench. But this move didn’t deter the Inter forward.
Argentina forward Lautaro Martinez shoots and scores against Colombia. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Slowly, he became Argentina’s super-sub and did well to adapt to his new role. After not scoring for about a year and a half, Martinez ended his drought by scoring from the bench against Costa Rica in a friendly earlier this year.
A huge part in Martinez’s getting his mojo back has to be his 2023-24 season with Inter Milan in Serie A. The forward ended the campaign as the top scorer with 24 goals, guiding his side to the title ahead of rivals AC Milan.
“It’s important to always collaborate with the coach depending on what the match requires,” he told FcInterNews after the Copa America 2024 opener against Canada, where he scored a goal. “I came in and had two opportunities to score and I managed to take advantage of one.
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“Scaloni didn’t explain anything in particular to Julian and I. He always talks to us and offers his support,” he added. “Obviously, he has to make decisions and we must respect them.”
He once again scored from the bench against Chile before he started against Peru and scored a brace to take his side to the quarterfinals.
“... Lautaro didn’t stop working, he deserved the goal because he suffered from being excluded from the starting lineup despite being the top scorer. He won’t be happy with me, and certainly rightly so because he wants to play, but that’s what he has to do,” Scaloni told reporters in a press conference after the final.
While it remains to be seen whether Martinez continues to be Scaloni’s super-sub, the forward’s golden-boot winning performance in the Copa America 2024 surely must have cemented his position as a dependable goal scorer for Argentina in the days to come.
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