When Diego Maradona scored his miracle goals at the 1986 World Cup, he was wearing a jersey with the number 10 written on the back, just the sacred 10, at that time the player’s name wasn’t printed on it. If Maradona disciples just drew a 10 on the back of their T-shirts, it was still clear who they worship or who they would like to be, not just in their dreams.
The names of the players have long been above the number, which of course boosts merchandising, because because the font looks exactly like the player’s, the fan can feel even closer to their idol in the corresponding fan jersey. And so numerous imitations of the World Cup soccer players drift and gondola through the streets and fully air-conditioned shopping malls in Doha. Fan jerseys of the DFB-Elf are rare, no wonder: Anyone who wears the inscription RAUM 3 on the back in honor of the German defender David Raum would look like a living sign in a conference hotel.
Most present the 10 and MESSI on their usually sky blue and white striped shirt. Big and small, old and young, women and men, Argentines and Qataris: Messi. Venice has been recreated in a shopping center here, complete with the canal system, before Argentina’s game against Australia it was infested with Messi, Messi and Messi, who wanted to have a bite there. Messi, Messi and Messi drive around on the subway between Aziziyah and Legtaifiya, and at the public viewing of the migrant workers outside in Asian Town, Messi, Messi and Messi are sitting, they come from India and Nepal and Bangladesh.
Worship is not just a word, it means something, for the worshiper, also for the worshipped. And when you see the ten thousand Messis in Doha, you would like to know how the real Lionel Messi deals with it. What does that do to him, as they say today. But Messi doesn’t go through the shopping mall, he already has everything. And he has to prepare for the quarterfinals.
Briefly back to Diego Maradona. Sports reporter Marcel Reif, who interviewed him a couple of times, put it this way: “Someone like Maradona can’t talk to anyone at eye level because nobody really knows what it feels like to be Maradona. As Maradona, you’re always alone.” Of course, this also applies to Lionel Messi, who avoids being under Messis for good reason.