Last month, I spent time in Buenos Aires and in Rosario, Messi’s hometown, where I heard versions of this critique nearly everywhere I went, from cabdrivers to coaches to professional commentators: Messi left Argentina too soon; he didn’t come up through the club ranks and play for a first-division side in Argentina, as other heroes like Diego Maradona and Carlos Tévez have done; he hasn’t sung along with the national anthem before games; he has no passion, no personality; he doesn’t “feel the shirt” of the national team the way other players do. The attacks have at times been so personal that Messi has reportedly considered quitting the national side. But the one thing nobody has ever denied is that when he speaks, Messi still sounds as if he’s from Rosario, and this small fact has kept the fragile connection alive. An Argentine soccer journalist, Martin Mazur, said: “The greatest gift for Messi during these years is that he never lost the Argentine accent. You can’t imagine what it would have been for him if he hadn’t had it. They probably would have killed him.”

The more lucrative the club becomes, the bigger the piece of the pie the fans claim. It's estimated the most powerful barras pull in thousands every month through ticket and parking rackets, and by controlling the lion's share of club merchandise and refreshments inside the stadiums. And it doesn't stop there. Gustavo Grabia, an Argentinian journalist who has spent years investigating football corruption, claims the biggest barras also receive up to 30% of transfer fees when a player leaves and up to 20% of some players' paychecks.

Die einen bekamen sich vor Schadenfreude kaum mehr ein, auf der anderen Seite herrschte blankes Entsetzen. Der Abstieg von River Plate Ende Juni provozierte unterschiedliche Gefühlswelten in der Fanwelt Südamerikas, wie man's eben mit dem argentinischen Rekordmeister hielt. Nun scheint sich das Blatt zu wenden: Denn der Verband will kurzerhand die erste und zweite Liga vereinen. Und das alles wegen River Plate, wie der AFA-Pressesprecher unverhohlen eingestand.