Pizza, cola, and magic

Lionel Messi was not supposed to be admired worldwide for his longevity.

The legacy story of the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was already set in stone, set aside by millions of us for the future so as to properly relay his greatness to grandchildren.

His jinking runs and fabulous individual goals. His balletic poise and mastery of touch. His extraordinary footballing IQ, along with an unerring ability to change games single-handedly.

It’s a best-of montage of magical moments seared into our minds, featuring a player that is ageless, never old.

An appreciation of an elite talent maintaining their gifts into midlife? Well, that was reserved for the likes of Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo, two footballing giants who trained like machines and possessed a compulsive obsession to persist.

Is it a mere coincidence that both players were tutored by Sir Alex Ferguson, a famously driven man himself?

With Messi it was always more about valuing his artistry over durability, an attribute that Ronaldo has ran with to a remarkable degree.

It is, by the way, entirely possible to admire both traits equally. To look upon the Sagrada Familia and a supercomputer and be just as stunned.

For the first ten years of his career, Messi would on occasion vomit during matches, an unfortunate consequence of a diet that largely consisted of processed food; of pizza and chocolate. His love of cola has been described in print as an ‘addiction’.

His legacy as a genius was secured from a relatively young age but one thing was for sure: The Argentine was not supposed to be admired worldwide for his longevity.

A sensible approach

The intervention of an Italian nutritionist named Giuliano Poser changed all that.

Widely accredited with transforming Messi’s fitness and wellness from 2014 on, Poser has since been probed about his methods many times over and it speaks well of the man that he has humbly only ever answered with obvious objectives. An approach that frankly any sports medicine practitioner worth their salt would espouse.

He banned the fizzy drinks and alcohol. Processed fare, flours and refined wheats went too, as well as red meat and pork. Shellfish and dairy products were kept to a minimum.

Instead, Poser stressed on foodstuffs Messi’s body needed, not what it wanted.

He strongly advocated five key pillars for the player to adhere to, they being…

  • To drink greater volumes of water

  • To only use very high quality extra virgin olive oil

  • To consume whole grains and legumes daily

  • Fresh fruit

  • Fresh vegetables

With the greatest of respects to Poser, who has rightfully been credited with extending the career of one of the finest talents to ever adorn a football pitch, such choices can be found in a thousand books.

Which is why it shows such modesty when he opts to focus on them.

In reality, the Italian also introduced several other approaches that Messi adopted, some of which were slightly off the beaten track.

Reconstruction of a genius

It is the end of the 2013/14 season and Lionel Messi has just scored 41 goals in 46 games for Barcelona.

On the surface all appears to be fine, his prolific destruction of teams as evident as ever, but behind the scenes his club are concerned.

The 27-year-old was beginning to succumb to muscle tears and hamstring strains, missing matches here and there. That spring, playing for Argentina in a friendly against Romania, the forward had vomited on the pitch just seven minutes in.

This had occurred before, many times, but never seven minutes in.

Tests were done and all came back inconclusive. Discussions were had, all dissolving into disagreements.

It was at this juncture when Martin Demichelis recommended Poser to his international team-mate and major adjustments to Messi’s diet was made.

Within weeks he dropped 3.5kg. The on-pitch nausea ceased. Colleagues began to comment that the Argentinian looked sharper in training. Freer.

Hugely impressed by the results from the collaboration Messi asked Poser if he had any other strings to his bow. He did.

As much a kinesiologist as a nutritionist, Poser suggested holistic approaches, from the use of Bach flowers – a remedy that can be sprayed onto the tongue, to reduce stress – to lymphatic massages, to gently move fluid from tissues. 

Postural corrections were made. Emotional therapy came into play.

For the next seven years, Messi embraced all of this and more, seeing the benefits on the pitch and feeling significantly better off it.

In 2018 he confided to La Cornisa TV…

"I ate badly for many years: chocolates, fizzy drinks, and everything. Now I look after myself better. I eat fish, meat, salads. Everything is organised and taken care of."

Drink of the gods  

Messi’s love of the herbal beverage yerba mate has been well documented, the player photographed on many occasions sipping from a hollow gourd cup that is typically used to house it.

A traditional South American tea it contains only one core element – the crushed leaves of the Llex Paraguariensis plant - which is mixed with hot or warm water, usually from a flask.

Offering a robust mix of antioxidants and vitamins it was known in Colombian folklore as the ‘drink of the gods’ while its natural source of caffeine provides an uplift in energy and alertness.

Crucially too, for a player adhering to the healthiest of diets, it is said to be an appetite suppressant.

So enamoured is Messi with the drink that he has previously turned several team-mates onto its charms while just this past week he reportedly gifted every member of the Argentinian World Cup squad with a specially made yerba mate set.

The thermos included was gold coloured and imprinted with the player’s personal logo.

Managing majesty  

Much was made this summer of Messi’s propensity to walk his way through Argentina’s eight matches and a breakdown of his movement in the Americas does prompt at least one eyebrow lift.

For 62.7% of the time the legendary forward strolled. For 24.7% of the time he stood stock still.

Just 2.8% of his game-time was taken up by running. A meagre 0.1% of the time he sprinted.

Of course, a considerable counter to these figures is the fact that Messi has always done this, a purposeful ploy that allows him to scope out vulnerabilities in the opposition defence and evade the man-marking of a centre-back.

He doesn’t so much stroll, as roam, assessing a team’s structure. Building what Pep Guardiola once referred to as a ‘map in his brain’.  

It is a strategy that few to no-one can claim doesn’t work. At the World Cup, Messi scored eight goals and conjured up four assists. He created the third-most big chances in the tournament (15). He was a potent threat in waiting every time La Albiceleste gained possession.

And naturally, what such a methodology also affords is the opportunity to conserve energy.

It allowed a 39-year-old man to play 120 minutes against Cape Verde, Switzerland and Spain and 90 minutes apiece against Egypt and England.

What we witnessed across the Atlantic this summer was a true great of this, or any other, era managing his majesty, reserving it only for the moments it was needed.

That in itself was fascinating to behold.