I forwarded the media report from last month on WeChat Moments. Messi couldn’t guarantee playing, but the tickets were already sold out.
The truth of the matter is becoming clearer: playing Messi in the match against Inter Miami had one price, and not playing Messi had another. Hong Kong paid the price for him not playing, like a small lobster, not a lobster.
However, it wasn’t mentioned in the initial promotion that Messi might not play, and it wasn’t clarified until the match was about to start.
In fact, it couldn’t be clarified, because the leaders were going to watch the match and meet the players.
Originally, a compromise would have been to announce that Messi was injured and couldn’t play. Some media reported that Messi was relatively normal at halftime, but his expression became very difficult in the second half. It’s very likely (this is my guess) that he only then knew he would have to shake hands with the leaders later.
Perhaps the organizers didn’t think it was a big deal. However, for Messi, it might not be the same.
After Argentina won the World Cup, they returned home to celebrate, and the president wanted to meet the team, but Messi refused, and the group photo used by the president to boost morale (and gain votes) had to be cancelled. Ultimately, the national team issued a statement that the team didn’t want to be involved in politics.
For Argentina, winning the World Cup was the most important thing. The country was a mess, but a World Cup victory could make many people happy. This was a great opportunity to stir up nationalist sentiment. However, at this critical moment, Messi kept football as football.
Many people accuse Messi of ‘looking down on the fans,’ but in fact, Messi is very good to ordinary fans. Many years ago, when Messi went to Beijing to participate in an event, he learned that a young boy from Xinjiang was very poor and had saved up many coins to buy a football. He specifically visited the young boy and gave him a jersey.
So, if you want to say ‘looking down on,’ Messi just doesn’t like, and looks down on, the Chief Executive. Or, Messi is more cautious in dealing with political figures. If there’s pressure, not attending the meeting with his own country’s president might be more stressful; this time, it’s really nothing to him.
In yesterday’s article, I mentioned Messi’s three ‘crimes.’ A writer friend has a version more suitable for the New Year:
‘You came all this way, and you won’t drink a drop? That’s not enough, is it?’
‘Our General Manager Li is toasting you, and you won’t drink? That’s not giving face, is it?’
‘We toast you, and you don’t drink, but you drink when the Japanese toast you? You look down on us?’
It’s very sad. For Chinese people, the agreements of contracts and covenants, the boundaries between the club and the individual, are all irrelevant. It’s just like this: if the leader toasts you, you don’t drink…
A group of people sent me private messages, saying that Messi only had a groin injury, which didn’t affect shaking hands with the leaders. What they were really angry about was this, because they neither bought tickets to go to the scene nor would they watch the live broadcast, but they were still indignant, because Messi looked down on ‘us’.
They easily brought themselves into it. So many people were trapped on the Hubei highway, they didn’t feel ‘us’; many people haven’t gotten their money back from the rural banks in Henan, they didn’t feel ‘us’, but Messi didn’t shake hands with the leaders, and they were hurt.
Kenneth Fok is angry, which is understandable. For him, it’s not just ‘us,’ but also interests, and maybe even some shady dealings (the issue of the government’s sponsorship of over ten million), but for an ordinary person… Forget it, I still wish everyone a Happy New Year.
I like this kind of Messi even more, while you all hate him.
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