Antonela Roccuzzo isn't doing press conferences. She doesn't need to. A single Instagram carousel — ending on a video of her wearing a KITH graphic tee featuring Messi cradling his face, rings on every finger — does the talking just fine.
The shirt is from the Kith & Messi for Adidas Football collection. The message is simpler: don't sleep on him.
At 38, the case for Messi is still absurd
900 career goals. Back-to-back MLS MVP awards. An MLS Cup title with Inter Miami. A World Cup winner's medal. The list of things Messi hasn't done is genuinely getting shorter than the list of things he has.
This will be his sixth World Cup appearance — a joint record alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Guillermo Ochoa. Sixth. Most players never get to one. Messi keeps showing up, and more often than not, he keeps delivering.
Argentina open their title defense against Algeria on June 16 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, before facing Austria on June 22 and Jordan on June 27, both at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The defending champions are chasing something that hasn't happened since Brazil won back-to-back in 1958 and 1962. If they pull it off, no one will ever argue about Messi's legacy again — not that there's much argument left.
What it means for the betting picture
Argentina's odds to repeat as world champions are built almost entirely around one man, and that man is still scoring goals at a rate that embarrasses players half his age. The 900-goal milestone in March — shared only with Ronaldo among men's players — wasn't a nostalgia act. It was a data point.
Any suggestion that Messi will be a passenger in this tournament is wishful thinking from rival fans. He's still Argentina's most dangerous player by a distance, and the bookmakers know it.
The rings-on-every-finger image isn't subtle. Neither is the resume behind it.
