I will always remember where I was the last time Argentina won the World Cup. It was June 1986 and they were playing West Germany in the final at the Azteca in Mexico City.

I was 14 years old and just starting my career. I had been at Newell’s Old Boys for six months but I was back home in Murphy for the final. At my first club, Centro Recreativo Union y Cultura, they set up a big screen to show the game. There must have been 500 people, including me, my family and my friends.

It was amazing to watch this game together, to watch my hero, Diego Maradona, and all the other players out there fighting for us, and winning 3-2. I will always remember that sight of Maradona lifting the trophy. It was really my first memory of a World Cup that I can still recall now in detail, coming at an age when I was just starting to feel football in different ways.

Afterwards, we all went into the town to celebrate together. It was amazing: there was a queue of cars heading into town, and then in the main square – there is only one square in Murphy – we were celebrating, shouting, sharing the happiness. Just like you saw in Argentina on Tuesday night after the semifinal win.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino during a Ligue 1 match against RC Strasbourg at Stade de la Meinau in Strasbourg, France on 29 April 2022. (Photo: Marcio Machado / Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Images)

Our feeling was that this was our victory. Our own World Cup. And looking at the scenes in Argentina now, I think that is how the people will feel on Sunday if Argentina win our third World Cup. And there are a lot of similarities between this campaign and 1986.

I was talking with Mario Kempes (who played in 1978) and Jorge Valdano (who played in 1986) about exactly this. It feels like a similar history. In 1986, the team understood that if they built the team around the best player in the world – Maradona then, Messi now – then everything would be possible.

Understanding jobs

For me, this is the most important thing about this Argentina team, and why they are in the final on Sunday. It is because the players fully understand their jobs: when you have Messi in your team, you need to run for him.

And when you have the ball, you need to give it to him as soon as possible so that he can create something. So the players know what they need to do in every single moment, to give Messi everything he needs to be decisive, like he was on Tuesday night against Croatia.

Of course, Argentina need Messi, but Messi needs the other 10 players to fight for him in every single moment. It has been one of the keys of this side, how they all believe that by playing for Messi, they can win the World Cup.

And you can see the players are giving 120% to do this. Different players: Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Julian Alvarez, they are giving all they have and more, and they are doing it for Messi. They are giving everything because this is their dream, they are so close, and when they have Messi, they know everything is possible.

Messi is football

And then there is Messi. I am Argentino, I played for Argentina, and always the dream when I was a kid was to win the World Cup. Messi is no different. I know very well that his dream is to lift that trophy. Everyone in Argentina and, I think, every single person who loves football wants Messi to do it on Sunday. Because Messi is football. And as he has said, this will be his last World Cup game.

Watching Messi this World Cup, I feel he has arrived here in his best condition, both physically and mentally, to help win it for Argentina, even at the age of 35. Maybe this is because he knows this will be his final World Cup, but he is so mature now.

Right now, Messi is performing at his best in every single area, and when you have that on your side, only good things can happen.

He knows exactly how he needs to behave, not only on the pitch but off it as well. And I think that leadership he is showing is why people finally believe this could be the time when the World Cup comes back to Argentina.

You can see it in how he manages the game, how he talks with the referees, with Lionel Scaloni, even with the opponents. After the quarterfinal against the Netherlands, when Argentina won on penalties, I heard some people comparing Messi’s leadership with the leadership that Maradona used to show.

Lionel Messi shoots for Paris Saint-Germain past Jubal Rocha Mendes Junior (left) and Julian Jeanvier of AJ Auxerre at Parc des Princes in Paris on 13 November 2022. (Photo: Catherine Steenkeste / Getty Images)

Messi is now the leader that Argentina need, and for me, that is a massive step for him. It’s not just the performances, which are what we expect. People think he is quiet, but sometimes what you perceive from the outside is wrong. He has a very strong character.

He doesn’t talk too much, but he talks when he needs to. Maybe we see him talking more now because of the cameras and the technology. We are seeing the real Messi. He was always like this. People like to talk in myths and we all know there are a lot of those in football.

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Right now, Messi is performing at his best in every single area, and when you have that on your side, only good things can happen.

Argentina deserve special credit because they arrived as one of the favourites and then started with that defeat against Saudi Arabia. There were plenty of doubts about the team then, but they were very calm, very mature, and showed that game was an accident.

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Then they came back against Mexico and Poland, showing great unity and belief in their approach. And now after Australia, the Netherlands and Croatia, people believe they can win. Credit should also go to Scaloni and his coaching staff. They have built a really balanced team that respects Messi and respects the shirt.

And respecting Messi is so important. He knows what he needs to do because he is the best player in the world and very mature. All the decisions he makes on the pitch are for him and for Argentina.

Managing Messi

I know what it is like to manage Messi – I had him last season at Paris Saint-Germain. He represented the same things Maradona represented for me. You admire him from a distance and think he is the best player in the world. He is the type of player who, when he plays football, makes you smile and makes you feel proud. You can call him special, a superhuman or a super-player. And when you meet players like that – like Maradona – you can only admire them.

Alexis Mac Allister and Lionel Messi tussle with Croatia’s Brozovic during their Qatar 2022 semifinal. (Photo: Sebastian Frej / MB Media / Getty Images)

Lionel Messi on the attack against Croatia. (Photo: Sebastian Frej / MB Media / Getty Images)

So Messi is a player who knows everything. He has the ability to read exactly what is going on on the pitch and what the team needs him to do. And if you have him, just like with Maradona, you have to enjoy it.

To have him there training for 90 minutes or two hours with you, it’s unbelievable. So for me, it was an amazing experience, to be able to share the training ground with him.

Messi’s own motivation is amazing. You cannot find a more competitive player than him or Maradona. They hate to lose, even more than normal players. They have a capacity to be ready to compete in every single game, every single area of their life.

Messi is competitive to arrive first at the training ground to be ready to be on the pitch. Even in a small-sided game in training sessions, there is another level of motivation.

Lionel Messi scores Argentina’s first goal against Croatia at Qatar 2022. (Photo: Pablo Morano / BSR Agency / Getty Images)

People talk about defensive work and pressing, but the point with Messi is that he does not need to press. When you have Messi, you need the other players to understand that they need to recover the ball and give it to him so that he can conserve his energy and then be decisive, just as Argentina are showing now.

Honestly, I think the debate about Messi’s defensive work is so stale, almost silly. You cannot pretend that Maradona or Pele – along with Messi, the most important players in football – were focused on trying to win the ball back. He cannot be involved in that. He just needs to keep his position and for the others to run for him.

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So it is difficult to compare this Argentina team to PSG. There, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar needed their space, too, needed to feel like they were big guys at the club. And sometimes the other players had a difficult time to understand if they needed to play for Messi, or play for Mbappe, or play for Neymar.

Mbappe needs to have a team behind him to play for him, but so do Neymar and Messi. That’s why they are all leaders in their national teams. Everyone knows that when those three are together, amazing, unbelievable things can happen on the pitch. But, of course, it’s not easy to find the right balance.

I remember talking with Messi about Newell’s Old Boys, the club where we both started our careers. He told me he remembered his father Jorge taking him to Parque Independencia to watch Newell’s when he was really, really young. We talked about whether he would have come to watch Newell’s when I was still playing for them.

Home of artists

Messi is a great ambassador for Argentina, but also for his hometown of Rosario, a city that smells of football. Rosario is a special place, the home of Che Guevara, the home of truly special and creative people (like Messi), and plenty of footballers.

Football is the most important thing in Rosario. It is divided between two clubs, Newell’s Old Boys (my old team) and Rosario Central. I know Rosario Central fans will hate me for saying this, but I think now there are more Newell’s Old Boys fans there. Over the past 20 or 30 years, they have attracted more fans because of Messi, Maradona, the people who played there and the trophies we won.

Lionel Messi of Paris Saint Germain runs with the ball against AJ Auxerre in Paris on 13 November 2022. (Photo: Antonio Borga / Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Images)

I know it’s unbelievable, but I think in Rosario even more than in Buenos Aires, you feel that people are crazy about football, more than you could even imagine. First, it’s football, second it’s football, third it’s football.

But it’s an amazing city, it grew up around the Parana river and it has the monumento a la bandera, the monument of the flag, because that is where the flag of Argentina was created.

It’s an important place in the history of football and the history of Argentina. And if anyone from England has never been to Argentina, I recommend you go there. You will feel very welcome, it’s an amazing city, and you can go to the Parque Independencia to watch Newell’s Old Boys, just like Messi used to do as a boy.

If I have one sadness about Sunday’s final it is that my hero Maradona is not here to see it. I think we all miss seeing Diego up in the stands celebrating the Argentina goals, whether from Messi or Julian or any of the other players.

It is really sad because he was such a presence in Argentinian football, even after he retired from playing. Remember that he was the Argentina coach for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He is also part of the history of football, and the history of Argentina, too.

I don’t know what Maradona would say to Messi now if he had the opportunity – a genius is a genius, they are different from the rest of us people. I only know that Diego would want to give Messi a big hug and a kiss, and to bless him with his hands.

It is amazing to think about that, but sad to remember Diego will not be there on Sunday to support Argentina. But I feel he is supporting Argentina from the other side and is present in our thoughts. He will help us all, and the national team, to play their best and to win. DM

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.