The story of how Messi was picked for Argentina: Put him at normal speed
Cesc Fabregas was key to Bielsa seeing tapes of Leo he couldn't believe
The story of Leo Messi and how he ended up playing for Argentina is far more incredible than you might expect. Sergio Levinsky, co-author of '10 looks at the 10' tells the story. A videotape, Cesc Fabregas and Marcelo Bielsa's disbelief all played a part in the story of Argentina's No.10.
Messi's family managed to put together a video so that Claudio Vivas could see him. The young player was about to get his passport and Spain wanted him for the national team. The Messis handed over the tape with the hope that Messi could participate in the U-17 World Cup, but it was not to be.
Argentina were knocked out by Spain in the World Cup. The two teams were sharing a hotel and Hugo Tocalli (Argentina's U-17 coach) came over to congratulate the Spaniards after the defeat. At that moment one of them told him: «You lost because you didn't play your best».
It turned out that the young man was Cesc Fabregas and he was talking about Messi, with whom he played at Barcelona. Tocalli got Messi's name stuck in his head and when he arrived in Argentina he went through his archive. He found that tape and quickly alerted Marcelo Bielsa.
When that video was played to him, Bielsa said: «But don't play it at fast speed, play it to me normally». It turns out that it wasn't at fast speed, it was the dizzying football with which Messi took Argentina, years later, to the top of world football
Read on marca.com
