Pep Guardiola, an Olympic gold medallist with Spain at the 1992 Games himself, understood Lionel Messi's desire to play at the stage. “I remember that we were in the pre-season in Italy and after a friendly match against Fiorentina, he grabbed me and said, ‘You want to go, don’t you?’ I said yes,” Lionel Messi recalled during an interview. He was the one who gave me the permission. “Pep was phenomenal with me as nobody wanted me to go to the Olympics with the national team, but I wanted to go. However, the appointment of Pep Guardiola as Barcelona’s new manager changed things.
With the Games’ schedule clashing with Barca’s Champions League qualifiers, the Catalan giants were steadfast in their stance to keep hold of their star player and with just months to go, Lionel Messi’s prospects of making it to Beijing looked slim. A tussle behind closed doors between the Argentina Football Association (AFA) and Barcelona over the youngster’s participation was out in the open and fans, as well as Messi, held their breath for the verdict. In the time leading up to the Games, uncertainties loomed over his participation. However, there were obstacles to overcome. Having heartbreakingly lost out in the Copa America 2007 final to Brazil, the La Liga 2007-08 title to Real Madrid and watching arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo lead Manchester United to the Champions League crown earlier that year, Messi was looking for a moment of reckoning.įor the then 21-year-old, the Beijing Olympics seemed the perfect platform to initiate his road to redemption. Here is a trip down memory lane on how Lionel Messi’s golden moment transpired and eventually played out.
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