Although Lionel Messi has been coming to Barcelona since he was 13 years old, he only spent Christmas Eve 2020 in Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Otherwise, he always flies back to his hometown of Rosario to eat his hometown bread on Christmas Eve. Strangely, every Christmas is associated with a successful milestone for Leo.
Messi’s family Christmas always takes place in the La Bajada neighborhood, in Rosario. There, Messi’s family, relatives and neighbors enjoyed a midnight barbecue filled with alcohol and meat. Messi worships Christmas very much, because he believes that he has received a miracle by fully participating in that important day.
On Sunday, September 17, 2000, Messi traveled from Rosario to Buenos Aires with his father Jorge and Fabian Soldini, one of his first agents. He cried, yes, but Messi is certain that good times are coming for his football career.
At that time, Newell decided to limit financial support for Messi’s hormone treatment and the boy moved to Barcelona, where they opened their doors to welcome him. In February 2001, Barca agreed to let Messi’s family permanently settle in Catalan. The Christmas of the second millennium marked a major turning point in Messi’s life.
10 days before Christmas 2000, Carles Rexach – Barcelona’s technical director, signed a contract with Rosario’s agent Horacio Gaggioli on a paper napkin. That is Barca’s most valuable contract in its history because it makes Messi an asset to the club.
Messi welcomed Christmas and said goodbye to the 20th century with a bit of nostalgia. They knew that their lives would change completely at the beginning of 2001. The European adventure began for all the family members: Jorge, Celia, Rodrigo, Matías, Lionel and María Sol.
But adapting to the majority is very difficult. A few months later, the only two people left were the father and Messi. To make matters worse, in April, Leo broke his left fibula and was out of action until June. Additionally, Newell did not approve the transfer, forcing FIFA to get involved.
2001 was a very difficult year for Leo and his entire family. However, they did not give up in the face of adversity. Jorge understood that they both needed to recharge their batteries during that Christmas. They return to Rosario to do just that. After toasting Christmas, Jorge and Lionel packed their bags again.
Led by coach Tito Vilanova of the Cadet B team, he finished that season with 9 goals in 10 matches. Everything started to look bright. And right from the 2002/03 season, when he joined Cadet A, he completely exploded with 38 goals in 31 matches. Jorge and Lionel returned for Christmas 2002.
Messi’s football development increased exponentially in the 2003/04 season, when he attracted the attention of all media. Even in Argentina, they started to introduce the concept of “new Maradona”. From Juvenil B, he moved to the Barcelona C team, eventually playing for Barca B – a stepping stone to the first team.
At home, the Argentine Football Federation decided to summon Messi at any time. Argentina U20 team player played in the U20 World Cup third place match (2-1 loss to Colombia) on December 19, 2003. After that, he returned home to celebrate Christmas 2003.
On June 29, 2004, 5 days after coming of age, Messi entered the field in the second half and scored the goal to score 8-0 for Argentina. The 2004 festival blessed Messi at the 2005 U20 World Cup. Messi helped his team defeat Egypt in the group stage, Colombia in the round of 16, Spain in the quarterfinals and Brazil in the semi-finals.
In the final against Nigeria, he scored a double and was crowned champion for the first time. He was the tournament’s top scorer (6 goals) and won the Golden Ball. At that time, he was already a full-time player in Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona team that won the Champions League that season.
Messi played his last match of 2004 on December 20 in a 2-0 victory over Celta de Vigo at Camp Nou and flew home to enjoy the Christmas holiday. At that time, the rumors became reality, coach Pekerman decided to take him to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Time passes, but Messi has never changed where he celebrates Christmas. In Barcelona, they said there was no way to convince him to stay there on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. Neither the disappointment of not reaching the quarter-finals against Germany in 2006 nor the defeat to Brazil in the 2007 Copa América final affected Christmas celebrations in their homeland.
All the blessings came in 2011. That year, one of Messi’s most important points in the Argentina national team. Many fans blamed him for being eliminated in the Copa America quarterfinals against Uruguay. That was the cruelest moment of rejection when they assumed he was more Spanish than Argentinian.
The family environment sheltered Lionel, who went on to win everything at Barcelona and would have another reason to celebrate in 2012: the birth of his first child, Thiago. It was one of the most special Christmases for Messi.
The birth of son Mateo (in 2015) and marriage with Antonela (2017) helped him rearrange his ideas and goals in the national team. At the end of 2017, Messi rescued the national team with a memorable hat-trick against Ecuador as a guest and brought the national team to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Even so, during the holidays that year, both he and his family sensed something was wrong before what could become one of his last World Cups. Less than a few months after the heartbreaking ending of being eliminated in the round of 16 against France and losing the opportunity to win the World Cup, Messi announced his retirement, but later canceled this announcement.
In 2020, Messi did not return to his hometown for Christmas because of the pandemic. But that Christmas did not lose its landmark value, because 6 months later, he signed a contract with PSG. The 2021 holiday season is filled with mixed emotions. Messi ended the drought with Argentina by winning the Copa America right at Maracaná against Brazil.
After winning the championship, he burst into tears in front of the camera. That trophy symbolized the closing of a brilliant circle in his career and released him from all responsibility for what would happen next year in Qatar. However, at the end of 2022, Messi won the World Cup. This Christmas season, he will raise his glass to the status of a world champion and the owner of 8 Golden Balls.