One played a lot and the other nothing, but for them that makes no difference: they will always want to win. On Sunday, Rafael Nadal y Lionel Messi demonstrated once again, one more time, that they are the best in history in tennis and soccer, or that they are very close to it. And why his careers, at this point, far exceed sports.
Rafa took two hours and 18 minutes in Paris to win his 14th Roland Garros title (and his 22nd Grand Slam) and Leo took advantage of the 90 minutes he played with the National Team in Pamplona to score 5 goals against Estonia (and reach 86 with the Argentine shirt and 769 only in official matches).
They are hardly some of their brands. Nadal, for example, is the youngest to have won all four Grand Slams and the oldest to triumph at Roland Garros, and the only one to add Olympic gold in singles and doubles. Messi, for his part, is the top scorer and the one who has accumulated the most titles with a single club (Barcelona) and the only player to have scored 50 or more goals for 9 consecutive years. Records and more records: this column could just be a list of them, all impressive, but that is not the point today.
Have several things in common Spanish and Argentine. The first was born in June 1986 and the second in June 1987. Both play left-handed, although they are right-handed when writing. The family throws them both, the terroir: when they can, they return to Mallorca and Rosario. But, above all, they are related by a set of virtues that are often difficult to find separately.
They are competitive like few others, of course, Or they wouldn’t be where they are. But, although they hate it, they know how to lose. They respect the rules and the opponent in turn. In nearly 40 years of combined careers, their out-of-place reactions on a pitch can be counted on one hand. They share a methodical rigor whose bestial face we do not usually see: the work and perseverance involved in training -and living- as an elite athlete for 25 years.
The combo has a prize: an extraordinary validitywith the possibility, even, of unprecedented achievements, such as the one that Messi will have in Qatar at the end of the year.
Some may criticize you military causes are not great. They are not “committed” or rebellious. LeBron James and Lewis Hamilton, for example, two other GOAT hopefuls (Greatest Of All Times) in their sports, which have grown up in the shadow of two monsters like Michael Jordan and Michael Schumacher, like Messi with Maradona and Nadal with Federer, dedicate great efforts to the fight against racism. Rafa and Leo, on the other hand, have supported various solidarity issues but with low profile. Like everything they do off the field: fuss or pompous gestures are not their own.
Perhaps this is where more should be put the magnifying glass. In that ability to be an example without posing in such a way. To be firm and fight fiercely for what is yours, but without denigrating or disparaging the rival. From humility to being great, without refusing advice or isolating yourself in crystal towers. Nor do they perceive themselves as chosen: no one knows better than them that his talent would be nothing without the colossal quota of sweat that have been added to it. Neither of them believe in magic wands.
Rafa and Leo are different idols, different examples. The usual thing is idols that mix, unwittingly or wanting, charisma with demagoguery, triumphalism with scandal, veteran with impunity, arrogance with leadership. That style, in general, seems to be more effective when raising passions. It happens in sports, in the arts and in politics.
However, few things would do Argentina as much good as if its leaders adapt and adopt attitudes like those of Nadal and Messi. For this, they should understand, first of all, that this style, which seems so natural, was cultivated for many years with a lot of effort and discipline. In other words: it is just the opposite of blackmailing.
