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Messi Isn't A Sachin Or A Federer And Definitely Not A Quitter



No he isn’t Sachin Tendulkar nor is he Roger Federer. He is Lionel Messi and is definitely not a quitter.

With my inferior knowledge of sports, I guess I am probably one of the last persons around to comment on it, but it’s kind of ridiculous when a leading (read: trending) website posts an article which reads: Here’s Why Quitter Messi Will Never Be A Sachin Or A Federer.

 Why should he be a Sachin or a Federer? From what it seems, there a scale of greatness and Messi seems to have failed to reach the level where Sachin or Federer stands. Interestingly, most of us are naive enough to not know how to scale the greatness of an athlete and with the blindfold of respect and admiration which we have for the player, took a bit of offence to what was written.

I am as shocked as anyone could be when Leo announced his retirement. But isn’t it something personal? As much as I want to see him back in the blue and white colour, I also respect his decision. And this respect is what most of us fail to acknowledge.

He is 29 and I am sure has enough of football left in him to humiliate any opposition. And under such circumstances, it will be far for painful for him to sit out of the squad and watch his country play. And you are calling this guy a quitter?

Courtesy: AFP
To be a quitter, you have to be a coward. And from the journey he had, does he look like one?

I am actually short of words as to how do I sum up the uneasiness I felt after reading the piece. It actually quantifies the negatives these greats in their respective sport had to face in their way to success. But we don’t call them legends because they faced these negatives; we know them because of what they have achieved.  


In fact, to be honest I had tears when Argentina lost the match and one could hardly imagine what the magician from Argentina would have felt. Under such state of affairs, I assume it’s a little unfair as well as harsh to label anyone a ‘quitter’.

It’s difficult for us to get in terms with the fact that Messi has retired from international football and we all know that it will be far far more difficult for him to not wear the national jersey. So let us just celebrate and accolade his achievements, rather than demeaning one hell of career with word, quitter.


To conclude with Abhik Chatterjee’s words, 

Greatness does not lie in the amount of trophies that you win. It lies in the fact that you have the power to polarize the world into lovers and haters : the respectful and the jealous. Perhaps that is their curse. Messi and Ronaldo have been cursed with greatness.  
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