The day Lionel Messi paid all the overdue salaries of the AFA employees

The true story of the greatness of Lionel Messi is not written solely with trophies, but with his ability to replace an absent and corrupt sports association. During the severe economic and institutional crisis that the Argentine Football Association (AFA) went through in 2016, the institution was under intervention by a Normalization Commission whose financial management was so disastrous that it left workers without their salaries for 3 months.

It was in Belo Horizonte, while the Argentine National Team was preparing to face Brazil, when the security "foreman" approached the captain to explain the desperate situation of the families guarding the team. Messi's response, far from institutional bureaucracy, was the direct action of a good man: “How much is it?”, the star asked.

According to then fitness coach Gerardo Salorio, without exchanging words with the inept leadership, within an hour, “the money was deposited in the employees' accounts. He put it in”, Salorio stated.

This gesture from “a very simple guy” prevented dozens of families from suffering the consequences of the mafia-like management of a morally bankrupt AFA. As the former member of the coaching staff summarized well: “Having another like him will cost a lot...”.

This profile of an absolute leader is what today, in the midst of the 2026 World Cup, continues to shatter records while the leadership structure still tries to ride on his successes.

At 39 years and 21 days, Lionel Messi has become the oldest outfield player to compete in a World Cup semifinal, surpassing records from 1958 held by Fritz Walter and Gunnar Gren.

His longevity is a triumph of personal discipline over time: he is already the all-time top scorer in World Cups with 21 goals, leaving behind 17 from Miroslav Klose, and the top assister with a total of 12 assists, surpassing Pelé's record.

In the current edition of the World Cup, Messi has shown that his sporting capital is inexhaustible, accumulating 8 goals and becoming the first footballer to score in all stages of the tournament, from the group stage to the round of 16 (new format of 48 teams) against Cape Verde.

With 30 matches played and a record of 2519 minutes on the field, the Argentine captain leads the global victory table with 19 wins, crushing any previous statistics.

As the records keep falling, it is clear that the success of the Argentine National Team is not the merit of administrative management, but the individual triumph of a man who, a decade ago, had to pay the salaries to prevent football from stopping in the face of leadership greed.