From not seeing ‘what all the fuss was about’ to being charmed, sports journalist John Dykes, the guest host of Tatler XFEST, shares his memorable encounters with the two football superstars
When it comes to shockingly bad first takes, my initial impression of Lionel Messi was an absolute classic. Simply put, I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.
That was back in 2007 and I have spent the last 16 years delightedly being proved wrong by the eight-time Ballon D’Or winner.
But first, that awful bad take. It happened at a 2007 Champions League game between Barcelona and Liverpool, at a cold and soggy Anfield where the home fervent support and on-field physicality reduced the diminutive 19-year-old Messi to a peripheral, ineffectual role.
A couple of days later, I was in Barcelona to watch training and to again see what all the fuss was about. Once more, initial impressions of the young Argentinian weren’t encouraging.
Messi strolled onto the training ground, didn’t really get involved in the warm-up drills, and was at the back of the running routines. He was also chatting with the goalkeepers and not showing a whole lot of interest.
But then the coaches brought out the footballs and everything changed: Messi came alive, juggling, dribbling, passing and shooting with a range of skills that had even his superstar teammates gasping in awe. A few days later, an unstoppable Messi scored all three Barca goals in a 3-3 draw with Real Madrid in El Clasico.
Over the 17 years that have followed, Messi has continued to deliver–he is the best player I have seen since Diego Maradona. Most recently, when I attended the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, one of Messi’s greatest moments came in the stunning Lusail Stadium during the semi-final against Croatia.
