my first heartbreak. i had already seen messi a couple times with barça by then and started properly following him specifically because, i mean, who else were you falling in love with as a 10 year old who loved football in 2014. my mom and most of my family were rooting for argentina too and i remember painting little argentina flags and “messi 10” on my nails because i didn’t even have a jersey yet. i was SO convinced he was going to do it and the loss genuinely hit me like nothing else ever had. i cried for hours while everybody else was outside having fun. that was the moment where every birthday candle, shooting star, coin toss and wish from 10 year old me onwards became “please let messi win a world cup one day.” this really was the beginning of it all for me wow i’m emotional