FOR Lionel Messi, the last four years must’ve felt like an eternity. Precisely 1434 days ago, the Argentine stood within 90 minutes of eternal glory. But that night in Rio de Janeiro, all that Messi touched didn’t turn to gold.

Messi needed his team-mates to carry him and Argentina over the line; Messi to his first World Cup title and the Albiceleste to a first since 1986. But just when he put his faith in his team-mates, his team-mates let him down. Both Gonzalo Higuain and Rodrigo Palacio missed gilt-edged chances, the former vilified for costing Argentina the world title.

Four years on from that night at the Maracana, Messi leads an Argentina side to Russia still looking for that elusive first major title with his national team. Argentina probably wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for Messi. Or as Argentina’s reserve goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman put it at a news conference at their training camp in Bronnitsy on Wednesday, they wouldn’t have been here without “the magic of Leo”.

Argentina arrived in Russia on Saturday night but have since held only one media interaction — the one with Guzman and potentially their first-choice goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

Their first training session on Sunday was closed to media because of the inclement weather. The following day they held an open training session that saw 400 fans flock to catch a glimpse of Messi and take pictures with the totemic forward.

Messi wasn’t there to be seen on Tuesday’s session that was open to the media for the first 15 minutes.

He was there on Wednesday for a session, this time open for the last quarter of an hour to the media, where Argentina did some shooting practice.

Messi wasn’t scheduled to appear during the team’s official news conference on Friday, on the eve of their opening Group ‘D’ game against Iceland. Argentina are doing their best to help Messi focus on what he does best.

He [Messi] is very plugged in,” Caballero said on Wednesday. “I’m surprised by how good he’s looking. Leo is training very well, giving an example of how to prepare at training but likewise off the pitch as well. I hope he starts the tournament well because if he’s on form, everyone else will raise the level.”

Messi starts the tournament knowing pretty well that he has to be on form. Argentina had a dreadful qualifying campaign and it was Messi who dragged a disjointed side to the World Cup with a hat-trick against Ecuador in the final round of matches.

Before the World Cup qualifiers began, Messi endured more final heartbreak with Argentina in the Copa America. Between their qualifying campaign, Argentina lost the Copa America Centenario final; the pain of which saw Messi announce he was retiring from international football before he retracted from that decision. It was crucial for Argentina. Messi netted seven goals in 10 qualifiers.

Argentina’s dependence on Messi was painfully obvious in the two of their recent matches in which their talisman sat out — a 4-2 defeat to Nigeria and a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Spain. In one match between those two, though, Argentina ran out 2-0 winners over Italy. Italy, however, is a team in transition.

Naturally, Argentina are talking about relieving the burden on Messi. “We have to take away the responsibility he has,” said Guzman. “We see Leo very involved, working alongside the team and leading by example as all big players do. I’m proud to be able to share this experience and try to accompany him at every moment. In every game, we all have to make sure that Leo is very good.”

For Messi to be very good, he might as well need his Argentina team-mates to replicate the way his Barcelona team-mates play. Coach Jorge Sampaoli said last year that his team needed to emulate Barca’s “collective approach” to extract the best out of Messi. That hasn’t happened but Messi needs that to happen more than ever in Russia. At 31, this could as well be Messi’s last crack at trying to emulate Diego Maradona.

While Higuain has been castigated by the Argentineans for his costly misses, Sergio Aguero also hasn’t done with the Albiceleste what he does with Manchester City. Aguero has often looked exhausted at summer tournaments. Perhaps its because he has to play with Messi. Perhaps its because Argentina has always been divided between two footballing philosophies and has never found a unique identity.

There is the Menottisme, the way Cesar Luis Menotti — the coach of Argentina’s 1978 World Cup winning team — liked the team to play: a 4-3-3 based on collective unity. Then there is the Bilardo school of thought; one by Carlos Bilardo, the coach of the 1986 World Cup winning team which featured Maradona: a 3-5-2 based on physicality, aggression and structural balance.

Maradona excelled in the latter, playing in the hole behind the striker. Messi might too, playing behind Aguero in that formation, but he’s so used to playing in a 4-3-3 at Barca. Sampaoli used the hyper-pressing 3-3-1-3 during his time with Chile but it’s a system that doesn’t work with the players he has with Argentina.

Sampaoli said in March that Argentina will be “Messi’s team” at the World Cup and both Caballero and Guzman have indicated that Messi is working intensively during training. It’s an indication that behind the scenes and away from the glare, Messi is perhaps also designing a blueprint for the team to play.

Messi and Argentina landed in Russia in an aeroplane emblazoned with imagery of iconic rock band The Rolling Stones. Messi started the World Cup in Brazil with a bang but couldn’t end it with a bang. This time, Messi is plotting for ‘A Bigger Bang’.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2018