Put Messi on everything: madness for the Argentine idol who became the magnet of the world

Lionel Messi is the most sought after jersey. It is the most liked photo in the history of Instagram. It is a cup with the now classic "what are you looking at, fool" that is sold like hotcakes at fairs. It is the face of a beer, of a world champion clothing brand, of an energy drink, of a cryptocurrency platform, of an oil company that sells almost as many of its balls and jerseys as fuel and lubricants. He is the protagonist of a soccer simulator that wants to become the most popular of all. It is the most downloaded skin of the most classic of shooting video games. 

Lionel Messi is the cool guy who gets you the best band of all for your party of 15. He is the loving father of Thiago, Mateo and Ciro and the model husband of a woman, Antonela Roccuzzo, who everyone wants to be his wife. He is the "candidate" for president who adds the most supporters in a survey above all politicians and all political parties. He is the Santa Claus who brought the best Christmas present to the Argentines and who for a while sealed the damn crack.

He is Lionel Messi and he is the magnet of the world. 

Buying a replica of the official National Team jersey with the three stars is an impossible mission at this time. Not to mention if you want add the magical number 10 and the five letters that make up your last name. But this is not a new phenomenon or after December 18. 

A few days before the World Cup final against France at the already unforgettable Lusail stadium, "Messimania" had exploded globally and the 10 shirt had sold out all over the world. In Argentina, while the Scaloneta made its way in Qatar, getting the garment was more difficult than putting together the magic cube in 30 seconds. The brand with the three strips, technical sponsor of the National Team, failed to meet the demand. "55% more than the 2018 World Cup in Russia was sold, well above our projections," they commented from the German capital firm.

This Wednesday at noon, the "sold out" sign was still firm on the app and on the adidas website when one wanted to buy the starting jacket with the three stars that is sold in exchange for 23,000 pesos. The shirt is made by RA Intertrading. The workshop had added new production lines to cover the demand that had been unleashed before the victory on penalties over the France of the unstoppable Kylian Mbappé. "Even if we wanted to, we couldn't increase the volume because making shirts is a craft job that requires qualified personnel, such as seamstresses and cutters," they explained to this newspaper.

The haberdasheries of the neighborhoods in the City of Buenos Aires and the GBA are not enough either. You have to sign up so that the dressmakers embroider the third star by hand on the shirts that were left with two. It's all Leo's fault. Imagine if Panini figurines were released these days...

Does it only happen in Argentina? The jacket with the additional star of the Les Bleus executioner is also for sale on the official website of adidas in France. It costs 90 euros, but it can only be obtained from Thursday, April 13. You have to be patient.

And all because of Messi. But this is not new. It was told in this newspaper during the coverage of the 2022 World Cup. The Argentine shirts were - and will be the majority - on the streets of Doha. It is worth remembering a visit to the unmissable National Museum of Qatar to understand that this 168-centimeter Rosario was already the most revered footballer on the world map.

The albiceleste shirt with the number 10 was the clothing worn, without exaggeration, by 60 percent of the visitors to that magical desert rose that keeps the secrets of a nation. And if it wasn't the 10th for Argentina, it was the 30th for PSG. Messi, who had not yet uttered the "what are you looking at, fool" and was far from being a champion, was already the most repeated figure in the Middle East.

Not to mention the moment when he lifted the World Cup and the Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani placed the bisht on him, that tunic of black tulle and golden details that has already become the most desired object for collectors. That cape, which is worn by Arabs at major events - comparable to the tuxedo in the West - immediately became the most sought after garment in the Souq Waqif market. Until Sunday the 18th, exaggeratingly, five a day were being sold, counting all the stores distributed in those zigzagging corridors where it is not worth buying without haggling. On Monday the 19th there was no position that did not offer it. The value? The negotiation started at three thousand riyals, about 800 dollars. It was available for much less.

Messi is the king of the world. And he is also the king of Instagram. The photo in which he travels on a litter with the FIFA Cup already has 73.7 million likes and left far, far behind the 58.7M of the egg that was the owner of an improbable world record for a long time.

But the most striking thing is that the top 5 of the most "liked" images on the social network are completed with another three of Leo: the one who is sleeping with the cup in the Ezeiza property, the one with chess with the devalued Cristiano Ronaldo who It is part of a Louis Vuitton campaign and the one with the wide smile with the glass that she waited so long on the plane. All above 40M likes. Of course, a strange contradiction, the Portuguese is still the celebrity with the most followers on IG: he has 524 million against the 411 of the Argentine.

And if you want to cut a little with social networks or with the World Cup matches, you can continue enjoying the best. For $20 one can become Messi in Call of Duty: Warzone. And kill enemies with the Blue Thunder weapon that has the Atomic Flea sticker. All fans of this video game, one of the 10 most played today, want to have Leo on their side.

"I had to buy you", wrote Emiliano Dibu Martínez, the other hero of the final in Lusail, along with an emoji with hearts in the eyes to the publication in which Leo himself spread the launch. This is one of the many collaborations made by the Argentine captain, who became an even more powerful money-making machine. Messi is also the face of "e-football", the old Pro Evolution Soccer, from Konami, which wants to once again be the most played soccer simulator on the planet.

At fairs and in businesses in Argentina, the cups with the words "what are you looking at, stupid, go over there" do not stop being sold. They did not miss almost any Christmas tree. And if it wasn't a cup, it was a shirt. Did your Dutch friend Wout Weghorst get one? In Spain, the country that has missed the phenomenon since he left to conquer Paris, the classic caganers - a figure that shows the buttocks and accompanies the mangers - with the image of a Messi of the National Team do not stop selling. The phenomenon is global.

From Buenos Aires to Doha. From Doha to Paris. From Paris to Barcelona. From the real world to the virtual world, Messi appears everywhere. He makes the value of cryptocurrencies fly and he is even the protagonist of a survey that Giacobbe Consultores prepared in recent days and that measured the man from Rosario in a hypothetical presidential election to reach the Casa Rosada.

"If these were the candidates, who would you vote for?" they asked. And Leo, out of a universe of 2,500 samples taken by cell phone, received 36.7 percent of the adhesions, triple what Javier Milei (12%) and Cristina Kirchner (11.3%) collected and well above of the trident of Together for Change made up of Patricia Bullrich (8.8%), Mauricio Macri (6.9%) and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (2.9%). 

Messimania is red hot. If even the wishes of Merry Christmas were renamed, in English, by the Argentine 10. Or who didn't get the Santa Claus meme wishing Messi Christmas instead of Merry Christmas. There was even a poster sticker on the streets of Madrid with the Rosario idol.

It is that Messi took biblical overtones, to become a Messiah. Yes, from now on, with double that. For both believers and atheists. He is the one who came to change everything. And, in a few years, there will be thousands of kids named Lionel Andrés or Lionela Andrea. The Antonelas will multiply. For him. And in the countries that allow it -let's say Bangladesh- Messi will be his first name.

Is he better than Maradona? Is he better than Pele? It is the best ever? Are there still coffee table intellectuals capable of disagreeing about his ability and greatness? Is it possible that he no longer divides waters?

For now, the Oxford and RAE dictionaries should stop looking for the word of the year. There is no doubt: it is "Messi". And it has many meanings. Is the captain of the National Team the most famous man on the planet? Likely. Today he is the king of soccer, the idol of the boys and the adults and even the first or last tattoo, well done and badly done, of millions of people.

But the most striking thing is that the top 5 of the most "liked" images on the social network are completed with another three of Leo: the one who is sleeping with the cup in the Ezeiza property, the one with chess with the devalued Cristiano Ronaldo who It is part of a Louis Vuitton campaign and the one with the wide smile with the glass that she waited so long on the plane.