Messi was one step away from being 'stolen' by Spain

Today Lionel Messi is known as the icon of Argentine football, a two-time Copa América winner, and the captain who brought the World Cup back to the country after a 36-year drought. However, his legendary career with the national team almost never began.

Argentina did not notice the young Leo in time, while Spain seriously considered the possibility of calling him up to their national team. A video cassette and a few phone calls changed the course of history.

From Rosario to Barcelona

In 2000, 13-year-old Lionel Messi moved from Rosario to Barcelona with the dream of becoming a footballer.

He quickly showcased his talent at the Barcelona academy. However, despite the passing years, Messidid not accept calls from various Spanish youth national teams.

One of his first coaches at the academy was surprised by this and reached out to the Spanish youth national team staff.

During the conversation, a joke was made: if the Argentine boy wouldn't agree to play for Spain, they should convince him or even 'steal' him.

Almost no one in Argentina knew Messi

At that time, there was not enough information about Leo in the Argentine football system. Messi's father, Jorge, began looking for ways to show his son's games to the national team coaches.

He asked an agent to deliver video highlights of Leo's matches to Argentine experts.

The agent met with Claudio Vivas, an assistant to Marcelo Bielsa. Vivas informed the head coach about the young player.

— Is he playing well? — asked Bielsa.
— He is not just good. He is playing brilliantly, — came the reply.

After that, a cassette with Messi's games reached Hugo Tocalli, the head coach of the Argentina U17 national team.

Messi impressed the coach, but did not make the squad

Tocalli was deeply impressed by Messi's speed and movements. He even compared Leo to a squirrel for his agility on the pitch.

Nevertheless, the coach did not take him to the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship.

Tocalli felt it would be unfair to remove one of the players who had been preparing with the team for two years just before the tournament. He did not want to change his decision before the 'train left the station'.

Argentina lost to Spain in the semifinals of that tournament.

One question hit Tocalli like a 'dagger'

After the tournament, a dinner was organized with team leaders. There, a Spanish representative addressed Tocalli:

— If you had taken that boy from Barcelona, you would have been champions with this team.
— Don't say that. Are you referring to Messi?
— So you knew about him and still didn't bring him?

This conversation hit Tocalli hard. He later described the words he heard as a dagger strike.

The coach went to the Argentine national team leadership and said that Messi needed to be called up immediately. Otherwise, Spain might take him for their national team.

«Finally»: the call that changed fate

Finding Messi's family was not easy. Tocalli began searching for Leo's relatives in the Rosario phone directory.

First, he called his grandmother. She gave him his uncle's number, and his uncle provided Jorge Messi's phone number.

Hearing that the call was from the Argentine national team, Jorge Messi's first words were brief:

«Finally».

After that call, the course of football history changed.

It all started with one cassette

Later, Messi won two Copa América titles with Argentina and brought the country its first World Cup in 36 years.

Now he is one step away from winning another World Cup with Argentina.

Today, it is hard to imagine Messi in a Spanish jersey. But once, Argentina was very close to missing out on its greatest player. This story began with a video cassette, a painful question, and a call that said 'finally'.