Lionel Messi’s Last Dance + Andres Cantor on Calling the World Cup Final

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2022

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Lionel Messi prepares to take the pitch in what will be his final World Cup appearance on Sunday, there’s another Argentinian legend that you should know about. Andres Cantor, the Spanish-language commentator for Telemundo known for his soulful call of “GOOOL”, will be in the booth for his 12th World Cup Final. In Latin America, he’s almost as much of an institution as the sport of soccer itself…and he’s about to call one of the most important matches in the history of his home country – and the most crucial of Messi’s iconic career. And we also call up NPR reporter Jasmine Garsd, who explains the rocky relationship Messi has had over the years with his fans in Argentina, and whether a World Cup victory will finally allow him to escape the shadow of Diego Maradona. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So, Jasmine, what would you say drew you to Lionel Messi in the first place?
0:05.4	I think what drew me to Messi is his story is such an example of how sports stories are
0:13.8	about so much more than sports.
0:17.8	Jasmine Garst is an Argentine American journalist and the host of the last cup, a podcast entirely
0:22.9	about one of the most famous people in the world.
0:25.9	Leo Messi, arguably the greatest soccer player who has ever lived, the guy who has taken
0:31.0	Argentina all the way to Sunday's World Cup Final.
0:35.2	Messi was a kid who had to leave the country because of an economic collapse and a social
0:42.8	collapse.
0:43.8	Jasmine investigated how Messi left their homeland at just 12 years old, to move to Spain and
0:49.5	join FC Barcelona, a complete powerhouse in European soccer.
0:54.8	He's breaking records, he's becoming the goat.
1:01.8	And the whole time he has this nostalgia, he's like yearning to go back home and be a hero
1:16.4	back home.
1:19.7	So essentially, you know, Messi's story, it's an immigration story and it's a story of
1:26.4	a nation's collapse.
1:30.6	We just all to say that this is the story of a person who has been fighting desperately
1:34.5	for acceptance from the country he represents while repeatedly failing to win the thing
1:41.6	that matters most.
1:43.2	It was really hard to watch, people just liked Messi, like why are you volunteering for
1:52.4	this constant humiliation?
1:59.4	So today, ahead of Sunday's World Cup Final, we bring you the story of Leo Messi.
	...

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