Messi taking penalty kicks is like John Lester throwing over to first.
OT…….The business side of these tournaments that feature national teams fascinates me to no end and I am most interested in the psychology of the players, especially the superstars. I don't doubt most participants embrace the opportunity, love the exposure, and ignore the noise (aka.. the greedy behavior of their national federations) …in other words, most can separate the "business" of futball from playing futball….likely because the "business" end for many is not that significant. Then there's generational players like Messi whose performances enhance the "business" of futball for himself, his team, his federation, and for world tournaments like the Copa America.
So let's look at the money involved in the Copa.
Money for Federations:
-Estimated ticket revenue: $200 million plus …..retained by US Soccer to fund stadium costs keeping any profits.
-Broadcast rights $112.5 million
Money for teams
-$250K for each team in tournament ($4 million combined)
-$26 million in prize money ($6.5 million for winning team, $3.5 million for runner up, etc). What portion is divided by players…???
So….$112.5 million to the Federations….$30 million to the participating teams……..and another $30 million in BRIBES paid to Federation Presidents and officials. Read the article linked below regarding the corruption involved in this tournament.
Football corruption: Who bought the Copa America? - BBC News
Which brings me to Messi and the more general topic of how important these month long tournaments are to certain players like Messi…a player all too consumed/embroiled/intertwined in the business of futball and at the same time being judged/compared by his countrymen/past legends/the world.
Put yourself in Messi's boots…….he represents a country that is obsessed with him yet tears down his accomplishments because the national team comes up small. He plays for a federation whose leader has pocketed $10+ million in bribes for simply voting "yes" while Messi carries the massive burden of high expectations by his country, his legacy……all while fighting lawyers and prosecutors in tax court back in Spain….and his compensation for being the "talisman" for this tournament…maybe $150K in prize money. Messi has to be asking himself every day this past month……I can't believe I'm out here enriching these fat cats of the corrupt FIFA and no matter the results, it will never be good enough for my countrymen that worship Maradona.
I'm not making excuses for him and his PK debacles….all I'm pointing out is that emphasis on these tournaments is so overblown…tournaments created to maximize revenue for FIFA…and I have to believe that deep in the back of players' minds (certain players), there has to be a level of cynicism that controls the effort. USA Basketball comes to mind. Some participants treat it as a necessary evil….and this year, many have put their foot down.
Anyway…I'll be remembering Messi's ridiculous free kick from 30 yards out during game time and ignoring the ridiculousness that has a major championship decided by free kicks. Maybe the NBA should should resort to a free throw competition after 48 minutes.
