According to a historical report by José Barroso for L'Equipe, officials from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) remain convinced that the national team could have won "one or two more World Cups" if Lionel Messi had chosen to represent La Roja. In the early 2000s, Spanish youth coach Gines Melendez was discreetly alerted to a phenomenal talent within Barcelona's youth ranks by trainer Alex Garcia, who noted he had never seen a player like him. Despite multiple attempts to recruit the young prodigy, the Messi family consistently declined, emphasizing the player's sole desire to represent Argentina.
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Subscribe Sekarang →At the time, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) was entirely unaware of the young prodigy's existence, as he had relocated to Catalonia at the age of 13. Based on accounts from Claudio Vivas, assistant to former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa, the breakthrough occurred in late 2002. An intermediary named Horacio Gaggioli presented Vivas with a VHS tape containing match highlights from Barca TV. Upon viewing the footage at normal speed, a stunned Bielsa concluded that the young teenager was a "phenomenon" after effortlessly dribbling past multiple opponents.
Despite the clear display of talent, Argentina's youth coordinator Hugo Tocalli initially hesitated to disrupt his existing squad ahead of the 2003 U17 World Cup. Meanwhile, Spanish officials continued their pursuit. Recognizing the urgency, AFA manager Omar Souto took a pivotal role in tracking down the family through a Rosario telephone directory, reassuring Messi's father that a call-up to the Albiceleste was merely a matter of time.
To permanently secure the forward's international future, the AFA organized two improvised U20 friendly matches in the summer of 2004. Under FIFA regulations at the time, appearing in an official youth match for one nation barred a player from ever representing another country. On June 29, 2004, the player came on as a substitute against Paraguay, scoring in an emphatic 8-0 victory that effectively locked in his international allegiance.
From editorial monitoring, this historical crossroads highlights how close football history came to being fundamentally altered. Following his official debut with the youth team, Lionel Messi went on to spend the winter training at Ezeiza, later driving Argentina to a third-place finish in the South American U20 Championship before securing the U20 World Cup title as both top scorer and best player.