Remembering is to live again. Traveling back in time is an opportunity that memory provides to feel good in the present, especially when you were one of the lucky ones to play against Lionel Messi when he was just a child, but the qualities that made him different from others were already emerging. Goalkeeper Hernan Galindez remembers him in his years as a youth player at Newell’s Old Boys because he played against him.
It may seem strange that the Ecuadorian national team goalkeeper remembers this passage. It should be clarified that Galindez is Argentine by birth and Ecuadorian by naturalization. His childhood in the city of Rosario coincided with that of Messi. On the fields they crossed paths as representatives of the two identity jerseys of the region, those of Rosario Central and Newell’s. The goalkeeper was trained at the Canalla club, an institution that made his first division debut in 2008.
Galindez does not forget that in his beginnings under the goal, Messi perforated the net when he was still a child. What caught the goalkeeper’s attention was Leo’s magnetism with the ball, because he carried it glued to his boots without anyone being able to take it away from him. He was impressed to witness live an opponent who made movements and executed actions similar to those of a professional footballer, very advanced for his time.
He played for the club Abanderado Grandoli, which was very close to my house and my grandparents’ house. That’s where we met. In fact, the first memory I have as a goalkeeper, of a goal, was scored by him. He dribbled past five teammates, including me
In addition to his naturalness and love of the game, Messi detonated his soccer virtues when he was called by the nickname he was given, both to refer to him as a way of identification and to annoy him. If Leo heard himself being called that, he would vent his anger on the pitch by tearing the defenders to pieces and scoring goals.
They always called him ‘The Redhead who plays with the 10’. If you heard that, you were already 3-0 down
The nickname had its origins in Leo’s hair. As a child he was blond, so his mane was almost reddish. To this day, Galindez remembers those moments in relation to the world soccer genius that Messi became.
Galindez did experience the Rosario derby
For Messi, there is an emotional and sentimental debt in soccer: to wear the Newell’s Old Boys jersey in the first division and play a classic against Rosario Central. He has a history as a member of the club’s youth team, but not as a professional. Goalkeeper Galindez, on the other hand, did fulfill both of these cycles and was able to defend the Canalla goal against Newell’s.
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