“It’s unbearable to be Messi,” famed football commentator Victor Hugo Morales once said of the world’s greatest player. “There are two billion people who consider you a god. And you have to live with that.” 

The pressure is on as Lionel Messi visits Cleveland this Saturday, April 19. Messi currently plays for Miami Club Internacional de Futbol, known as Inter Miami CF, in the U.S.’s Major League Soccer (MLS). Inter Miami will play against the Columbus Crew at a special game hosted at Huntington Bank Field, the Browns’ stadium, at 4:30 p.m.  

Lionel Messi was a soccer prodigy competing in tournaments in Argentina at age 6. At age 10, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. Family connections in Spain were able to set up a tryout with Barcelona, one of the world’s biggest football clubs, where he was quickly signed to the club’s youth team. Messi completed his hormone treatments at 14, though he only grew to 5 feet, 7 inches. His height has been an advantage on the pitch, giving him a lower center of gravity and allowing him to evade tackles and change direction quicker, and run faster in sprints. 

Leo Messi has made Time magazine’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people three times, most recently in 2023. A survey across 15 international markets found Messi was familiar to 87% of respondents, 78% of those viewing him favorably. He is one of the most famous people in the world.

‘Leo Messi is one of us.’

“I feel that Leo Messi is one of us,” said Delfina Caversaschi, an Argentinian Clevelander and the marketing coordinator for the Cleveland Soccer Club. “We always say, in Argentina, the religion, the main religion, is soccer. And Messi is our god. For us, he’s like a hero.” 

Caversaschi helps organize game-day get-togethers for Cleveland’s Argentinian fan base — always at Old Angle pub on West 25th Street. 

She told the story of watching the Copa America tournament there last year, surrounded by flags and jerseys that the fans had brought along to hang on the walls, when the power went out. They grabbed what they could and ran to nearby Nano Brew, which was full of fans of the rival Colombian team.

“Then somebody called us from Old Angle,” Caversaschi said. “They [said] the power is back, 20 minutes before the end of the game. And we took all the flags and all the jerseys down, and we run to Old Angle and we hang everything up again. We started drinking an Argentinian drink they [Old Angle bartenders] already know how to make because of us. And then we won. It’s insane, but these little things that we do, it means a lot.

“For Argentinians, everything is hard. And you can see it in the games. It was so hard to win the World Cup. We suffered until the last minute every single game.… And that’s how it is in Argentina, we suffer until the last minute, and then you get the success at the end. But it’s so hard, and [Messi] worked so hard for so many years… and now it’s like, you cannot beat him. Nobody can.” 

‘Messi represents everything Clevelanders admire.’

Lakewood resident and superfan Nick Tamjidi agrees no one can beat Messi. 

“I remember this one game, Barcelona against Villa Real,” he said. “Messi was on the right side, he was dribbling, dribbles through five people, just cutting in through the middle, through his dribbling, fakes shooting, and every single player went down to their knees. He faked out a whole back line, plus a midfielder. That is absolutely nuts.” 

“You can’t track him,” Tamjidi added. “One minute you see him, you’ll scan around and you’ll be like, ‘ah, I’m right next to him.’ You’ll turn away for one second, and he already has the ball on his foot and is scoring a goal. It’s like [he’s] built to teleport. It’s unbelievable. I don’t even know how he does it. It’s like, he’s so unpredictable in his movement.”  

“Messi represents everything Clevelanders admire,” said fan Lindsey Ford, of Painesville. “Quiet excellence, unshakable commitment. He’s a reminder that greatness isn’t always loud — it’s steady, and fiercely devoted. Just like us.”

Come together right now over Messi

Fans concerned that Leo Messi will be on the bench for Saturday’s game in Cleveland shouldn’t worry. Messi sat out an exhibition game in Hong Kong in February 2024 and it caused such a backlash across China that the Chinese Football Association temporarily halted its partnership with its Argentine counterparts.   

“Benching Messi in Cleveland is like bringing Beyoncé to town and having her work the merch table,” said Ford. “You’ll hear the sound of 70,000 people simultaneously sighing and checking StubHub to see how much they can get for their tickets. Fans came to see the G.O.A.T., not some guy who sat next to Messi once on a plane. You bench Messi in Cleveland, you better be ready for every local sports radio host to lose their minds Monday.”

Heading to the game Saturday? Argentinian Clevelanders and Messi’s club, Inter Miami, are hosting a tailgate in the West 4th Street and St. Clair Avenue parking lot starting at noon on game day. Tailgate organizers will have drinks and food, including Argentinian sausages. Feel free to bring something to share.  

“It’s gonna be crazy, I’m just gonna tell you,” said Caversaschi. “All the fans from Miami are gonna join us. It will be super fun, there’s gonna be music, great vibes, it’s a great way to celebrate soccer.”