He was out in a rondo, Lionel Messi. Laughing with Rodrigo De Paul. Looking up to the heavens when, God forbid, fate dictated he was piggy in the middle. Not even the greatest could find a way out of that one.
Hundreds of eyes were on him. Cameras clicking, phones overheating. The world was behind a rope to gawp at the great man warming up, just as one member of Argentina’s backroom staff proved what Messimania is and how it takes hold.
This guy was kitted out in full garb. Head to toe Argentina in a way no supporter could pull off. He went to step inside the plush ‘Compass’ training facility at Sporting Kansas City, as was his right. Blocked as he reached for the handle. ‘Can’t let you in, I don’t know who you are,’ was the security guard’s response. Eventually, he relented.
Security is tight, highways shut down wherever the team bus goes. One local joked that the most opportune moment to rob a bank would be when Lionel Scaloni’s world champions train.
Distinguished guests with royalty. Kansas City looked like hosting France for this tournament at one stage but are more than happy to welcome the greatest footballer who ever lived for what is surely going to be his international swansong.
The place is packed with Argentina supporters, air bookings into Kansas City up by 2,143 per cent. Three others have cycled from South America across nine months and 17 countries to be here. Vicente Conculini and two friends, Miguel and Yamandu, were invited to the team hotel earlier this month, where they drank mate tea – a traditional South American herbal infusion made from dried leaves and stems of the holly tree – with the executives.
Lionel Messi is the main attraction in Kansas City as Argentina use it as their World Cup base
Argentina fans with his shirts were in abundance during their win over Algeria in Kansas City
Their expedition has been the talk of the squad too, with Enzo Fernandez and Lisandro Martinez in touch to congratulate them. The local county mayor gifted them tickets to the opening group win over Algeria at the Arrowhead Stadium, a hat-trick from a 38-year-old Messi that will be regaled for generations.
‘Scaloni rides his bike and the whole team follow,’ Conculini tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘He asked about whether we have carbon and aluminium. He was asking about the weight too and how we did it. We offered him a ride!
‘Messi, what can I say? I quit my job for this. It’s Messi’s last one. He is God.’
Now they have arrived, Conculini has altered the mode of transport in America and will take a motorhome from Kansas to Dallas, where Argentina face Austria today.
There is a sense of calm around the camp, although that was dramatically broken twice last week. An Uber carrying fans to the game was hit in a series of shootings.
Then, media back home in Argentina erroneously claimed that Messi’s father, Jorge, had died. It prompted national outcry and those bridges will take time to mend. Resignations and apologies aplenty followed straight away.
But this has been a first week of the World Cup that has taught Kansas City about Argentina and Argentina about Kansas City. The sheer number of supporters arriving at Arrowhead Stadium at the same time ahead of the Algeria victory was such that there are now discussions to alter the number of entrances from two to eight. Thousands had descended on a fan park in the hours before and emptied the spot en masse, which had been a sight to behold.
Messi has played here before, scoring in a 3-2 victory for Inter Miami over Sporting KC in front of 72,000 in 2024, yet this is different. Arrowhead holds the Guinness world record for the loudest noise ever recorded in a stadium, 142.2 decibels, and anecdotally, some there believe it was topped when the diminutive genius scored his first.
Dad Jorge, 68, operates as Messi’s agent and business manager, and the pair are close
Florencia Pena has stepped down from her job after saying Messi’s dad had died
‘It’s magical,’ says Pam Kramer, chief executive of the Kansas City organising committee. ‘It was so gratifying to feel the pride of a city combined with a pride of a nation.
‘You could feel the pride of the Argentina fans, that was exactly what we’d hoped for and why we thought we’d be the heart of the World Cup. I got a little emotional.’
The Argentines have taught the locals a thing or too, admonishing them for heading for refreshments midway through the first half before the team headed back to their haven in the west of the city having laid down a marker.
Argentina had the pick of the training base options by virtue of their FIFA ranking. There are the barbecues with 500kg of meat flown over from home and those who work for the football club manage to bob their heads out when Scaloni leads the squad for sessions, weaving around the sprinklers.
‘Let me tell you, it’s a whole different level in the five versus two rondo when Messi’s playing,’ smiles chief commercial officer Rob Thomson.
‘To see the fans waiting outside the gates just to see the bus come is just different. There was an event with a kid with cancer at our facility and he was unbelievable. People think they know Messi but they would’ve been blown away.’
The roadshow now rolls onto Dallas for the remaining group games, but there is a potential knockout fixture here for Scaloni’s team in the Midwest. Argentina gear is flooding shops at the huge outlets, young supporters sporting the No 10. You cannot move for the guy and, at the moment, this is his tournament.
‘We have it in our blood,’ Conculini adds. ‘When I was taking the decision to ride, I asked myself what else I could do with my money. You need to do something with your life. OK, let’s go by bike to the World Cup.’
And for this city, the Messi wheels keep on spinning.
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