The sports network ESPN, in collaboration with the streaming platform Disney+, will premiere this Sunday (10/05) the documentary "Messi: The Forgotten Tape", a production that will reveal unreleased details about the process that led Lionel Messi to represent Argentina instead of Spain in international football.
According to the press release issued by the American network, the audiovisual material will show the crucial moment that marked the Argentine star's athletic future and changed the course of world football history.
The documentary dates back to 2004, when Messi, at just 16 years old, was shining in Barcelona's lower categories and was in the process of acquiring Spanish citizenship, a situation that opened up the possibility of him joining the Spanish national team.
The production narrates how a journalist from "Barça TV" collected the young footballer's best moments on a VHS tape and gave it to the assistant coach of the Argentine national team, at a time when the internet did not yet have its current reach.
As ESPN reports, this tape was key for the Argentine Football Association to accelerate efforts and quickly organize friendly matches with the aim of securing Messi for the "Albiceleste", before Spain could officially call him up.
It should be noted that with the Argentine national team, the "pulga" won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Copa América in 2021 and 2024, and also the Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.