INTERVIEW: RIK SHARMA
Football reporter Rik Sharma attended Copa America in both 2015 and 2016. Here are his memories.
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Rik, the first Copa America you attended was in Chile in 2015. It was the year after Argentina had lost the World Cup Final so there must have been a lot of focus on Messi. How did they play during the tournament?
I went to two of Argentina’s group games, and the semi-final and the final. They looked good. Obviously they went into the tournament as favourites with Brazil, who got knocked out by Paraguay on penalties. Argentina smashed Paraguay 6-1 in the semis and even though it was in Chile everyone thought they were going to win the final. The home support was a big thing for Chile, but it just seemed like it would be the first time Messi won something with Argentina. That was absolutely my expectation. I remember thinking: ‘I’m here for Messi to win his first international trophy!’ You just thought Messi was going to decide the final, especially after the World Cup Final the year before.
But it didn’t work out like that, with Chile winning in a penalty shoot-out. That must have been a pretty special atmosphere to witness?
It was sensational. The stadium itself was beautiful because you could see the red mountains in the background. It was great setting, a great scenario, and it was great to be in Chile and experience Copa America there, seeing how people lived for football – like the way they had painted the bus stops as goalposts and everyone wore red for Chile. There was a really great atmosphere throughout the country. Every bar you went into, there would be a TV on and they always had Copa America games or news on, constantly. The atmosphere inside the grounds was more sensory than I’d experienced before – there were more sights and sounds and colours.
After the final, would it be right to guess that the fact Chile had won Copa America was overshadowed in the media by the fact that Messi hadn’t?
It was immediately the talking point: Messi had failed again. People were interested in Chile winning at home, playing good football, winning their first ever trophy. So that was nice. But the story really was Messi. When you talk about Argentina, of course you talk about Messi. Around the press conferences and among other journalists from Argentina, the talk is always about Messi. Everyone knows how important he is. Whenever you talk about Argentina it always comes back to Messi, he’s the frame of reference and everything relates to him. Nobody worries about whether the left-back is going to be fit when you can talk about Messi.
The following year you were at the next Copa America, which took place in the United States. That must have been a very different experience to Chile?
Extremely different, firstly because of the size of America, which is mad. Loads of flights. I think I did 20 flights during that tournament. What I noticed was that so many people, American fans, were going to those Argentina games solely to watch Messi, not to watch the game or support a team. They just wanted to watch Messi. Whenever he received the ball, the whole crowd would rise up. It was as though they were watching football for the first time and discovering how good it is. Probably many of them were, and seeing all those great players in a real tournament was obvious very exciting for them. A lot of expat fans were there as well, of course. But there was a very distinct contrast between all the other games and any game involving Argentina, just because of Messi. Most of the American fans there cared much more about Messi than anything else that happened in the game. There would be chants about him, Americans chanting for him, which sounded weird. That didn’t happen with anyone else.
That tournament ended with another final between Argentina and Chile. And again, Messi’s attempt to win a trophy was probably the big storyline before the final?
Yes and there was a lot of pressure on Messi because he knew it was up to him to decide it. Everyone was saying this time the curse will be lifted, this time Messi wins. It’s finally time for Messi to do it. Chile had smashed Mexico 7-0 but other than that they were pretty poor and there was a big assumption that Argentina would win. Chile were worse than they had been a year ago, and they weren’t playing at home.
But the game had the same outcome as the year before, with Chile winning on penalties after a 0-0 draw. But this time, Messi missed his penalty in the shoot-out. How do you remember that?
Yes, he missed Argentina’s first penalty. Everyone was so shocked. The rest of the shoot-out was almost a side issue. Everyone was still thinking about the fact that Messi had missed. As a journalist you’re already rewriting everything, so the focus is: Messi missed a penalty. As soon as he missed, you felt that’s it, they’ve lost again. And this time it’s his fault. After the penalty he was devastated, crying and holding his head in his hands. He looked like he’d seen a car crash.
And almost immediately after the game, Messi added another twist to the story by announcing he was retiring from international football. That must have added to your workload!
Messi came out very quickly after the game and spoke in the mixed zone, which is something he never does in Barcelona. He answered a couple of questions and then just made this announcement that he was retiring from international football. It was ‘Wow, that’s the story’. I was surprised. You don’t really see much of Messi’s personality in public, you never get an insight into his life because he’s so private, so you never really know how he’s feeling. But I didn’t expect him to come out and retire. It was a massive sulk, really. “Well, I’m not playing anymore then.” And I wasn’t surprised at all when he reversed that decision a few weeks later.
And Argentina will be relieved that he did, so now let’s see if he fares any better this summer. Thanks for your time Rik!
I went to two of Argentina’s group games, and the semi-final and the final. They looked good. Obviously they went into the tournament as favourites with Brazil, who got knocked out by Paraguay on penalties. Argentina smashed Paraguay 6-1 in the semis and even though it was in Chile everyone thought they were going to win the final. The home support was a big thing for Chile, but it just seemed like it would be the first time Messi won something with Argentina. That was absolutely my expectation. I remember thinking: ‘I’m here for Messi to win his first international trophy!’ You just thought Messi was going to decide the final, especially after the World Cup Final the year before.
But it didn’t work out like that, with Chile winning in a penalty shoot-out. That must have been a pretty special atmosphere to witness?
It was sensational. The stadium itself was beautiful because you could see the red mountains in the background. It was great setting, a great scenario, and it was great to be in Chile and experience Copa America there, seeing how people lived for football – like the way they had painted the bus stops as goalposts and everyone wore red for Chile. There was a really great atmosphere throughout the country. Every bar you went into, there would be a TV on and they always had Copa America games or news on, constantly. The atmosphere inside the grounds was more sensory than I’d experienced before – there were more sights and sounds and colours.
After the final, would it be right to guess that the fact Chile had won Copa America was overshadowed in the media by the fact that Messi hadn’t?
It was immediately the talking point: Messi had failed again. People were interested in Chile winning at home, playing good football, winning their first ever trophy. So that was nice. But the story really was Messi. When you talk about Argentina, of course you talk about Messi. Around the press conferences and among other journalists from Argentina, the talk is always about Messi. Everyone knows how important he is. Whenever you talk about Argentina it always comes back to Messi, he’s the frame of reference and everything relates to him. Nobody worries about whether the left-back is going to be fit when you can talk about Messi.
The following year you were at the next Copa America, which took place in the United States. That must have been a very different experience to Chile?
Extremely different, firstly because of the size of America, which is mad. Loads of flights. I think I did 20 flights during that tournament. What I noticed was that so many people, American fans, were going to those Argentina games solely to watch Messi, not to watch the game or support a team. They just wanted to watch Messi. Whenever he received the ball, the whole crowd would rise up. It was as though they were watching football for the first time and discovering how good it is. Probably many of them were, and seeing all those great players in a real tournament was obvious very exciting for them. A lot of expat fans were there as well, of course. But there was a very distinct contrast between all the other games and any game involving Argentina, just because of Messi. Most of the American fans there cared much more about Messi than anything else that happened in the game. There would be chants about him, Americans chanting for him, which sounded weird. That didn’t happen with anyone else.
That tournament ended with another final between Argentina and Chile. And again, Messi’s attempt to win a trophy was probably the big storyline before the final?
Yes and there was a lot of pressure on Messi because he knew it was up to him to decide it. Everyone was saying this time the curse will be lifted, this time Messi wins. It’s finally time for Messi to do it. Chile had smashed Mexico 7-0 but other than that they were pretty poor and there was a big assumption that Argentina would win. Chile were worse than they had been a year ago, and they weren’t playing at home.
But the game had the same outcome as the year before, with Chile winning on penalties after a 0-0 draw. But this time, Messi missed his penalty in the shoot-out. How do you remember that?
Yes, he missed Argentina’s first penalty. Everyone was so shocked. The rest of the shoot-out was almost a side issue. Everyone was still thinking about the fact that Messi had missed. As a journalist you’re already rewriting everything, so the focus is: Messi missed a penalty. As soon as he missed, you felt that’s it, they’ve lost again. And this time it’s his fault. After the penalty he was devastated, crying and holding his head in his hands. He looked like he’d seen a car crash.
And almost immediately after the game, Messi added another twist to the story by announcing he was retiring from international football. That must have added to your workload!
Messi came out very quickly after the game and spoke in the mixed zone, which is something he never does in Barcelona. He answered a couple of questions and then just made this announcement that he was retiring from international football. It was ‘Wow, that’s the story’. I was surprised. You don’t really see much of Messi’s personality in public, you never get an insight into his life because he’s so private, so you never really know how he’s feeling. But I didn’t expect him to come out and retire. It was a massive sulk, really. “Well, I’m not playing anymore then.” And I wasn’t surprised at all when he reversed that decision a few weeks later.
And Argentina will be relieved that he did, so now let’s see if he fares any better this summer. Thanks for your time Rik!