Leo, Leader, and Legend -By Ismail Bello El-Ibrany

December 18, 2022 will forever remain indelible in the history of football. For it was the day in which the greatest footballer of our time, Lionel Messi, lifted the FIFA World Cup in Qatar amid tears of joy. In this piece, I intend to pen a tribute to the King of football. The footprints that the lion of football left in the sandy deserts of Qatar will perpetually remain visible.

As a Barcelona fan, I support Messi in whatever team he is. In 2014 World Cup, I slept with feverish body when he didn’t win the Cup. Then, he won the Copa America. I was glad. It renewed my hope that he could also win the 2022 World Cup. The World Cup was the only football war that he hasn’t won. Now, he has conquered the world of football. Therefore, he has proved that he is “Leo” ( ‘lion’ ). And lion is a king―a king of the jungle.

On June 24, 1987, a cub was born in Rosario, Argentina. This cub would later grow into a mature lion of soccer and win many football battles. But the greatest war was to be fought in the sweltering deserts of Qatar. After serious planning and preparing war strategies and tactics, the lion with his wise vizier, Lionel Scaloni, led a pack of lions to the biome of the camels. How could two lions leading a pack of lions lose a war?

These determined, well-trained, well-motivated, ferocious, and hungry lions set out for hunting a delicious meal. The captain, Leo, roared from Argentina as he led these strong lions to the sand dunes of the Middle East. They prowled 13, 809 km to get their palatable food. They growled and roared in the deserts. Although the desert wasn’t their biome, yet they bravely withstood the war and the harsh blowing cold currents of the deserts like Spartans.

The so-called Atlas Lions weren’t truly lions, but cats. The true lions fought valiantly to the end. Messi is a lion who led a Pride on a hunting campaign. He is a king who isn’t proud. He is a humble king. He fought to the last drop of his blood, sweat, and tears together with his pride. True, Leo is a lion. And lions are leaders. But this leader has now become a legend. His name will go down in the records of football history as one the most skillful football players the world has ever seen.

As he now sits magnificently on the regal throne of world’s football, what remains is for his servants and other low-grade and high-grade professional footballers to come and pay homage, and bow down to the King of football. More so, the lion together with his lioness, Antonela, bore three cubs: Mateo Messi, Thiago Messi, and Ciro Messi. These cubs will also devour meat and grow up and conquer the world of football, too, hopefully.

Messi is now the reigning king. He has succeeded legendary footballers like Diego Maradona and Pele. From the Gulf of Persia to Arabian desert; from the Sahara desert to Iranian desert; from Atacama desert to Mohave desert; from the tropical rainforest of the Amazon to the tropical grasslands of Kenya; from Kalahari desert to Negev desert; from Mount Kilimanjaro to Mount Sinai; from Sinai to Mount Everest in the Himalaya; from Himalaya to Deccan plateau; from the Chinese walls to the Arctic and Antarctic regions; from the Australian desert to the Alps; from Mekong delta to Nile and Niger deltas; from Yokohama to Honolulu; from Limpopo to Morocco; and from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Gibraltar, all the world is echoing “long live the King!” “long live King!” “long live the King!”.

Congratulations Abu Thiago Lionel Ibn Messi Al-Rosarawi