THERE IS "MESSI" AND THERE IS "DI MARIA"
Richard Nunekpeku
LLM Candidate at Cornell Tech, deepening expertise in Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship.
If you are a football fan, these names should be familiar. But if you are not, at least you know or have heard of Messi (yes, Lionel Andres Messi of Argentina). Di Maria and Messi were Argentine teammates.
Angel Di Maria was arguably the most sensational Argentine footballer until his retirement. He was a player who had won everything in football, including the World Cup.?
He has scored very important goals and provided critical assists to help his national team win important games—the most recent being the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America.?
He had won many man-of-the-match credits and may have a room full of medals.?
Di Maria is a star player who played with Messi. And because Messi is a genius from another planet, many didn’t pay attention to Di Maria’s contribution to improving Messi and the Argentine team.?
Yes, we are all guilty. We celebrated their wins as Messi just being magical, and indeed, he has always been. But the team had other great players. One was Di Maria.?
He understood it was team play and stuck to his role each time, even when Messi didn't deserve the attribution of the win.
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He understood his role and stuck to it, improving his skills, delivery, and team support.?He did not let the applause for Messi get in his way of becoming Angel Di Maria.?
He did not fight for recognition and didn’t fight Messi, either. He showed commitment and supported everyone and the team.?
He became Di Maria and not Messi. He believed in himself and lived by himself, not in the shadows of being like Messi. And I think he is one of the greatest players ever to grace our game.?
So, this week, know who you are. Understand your role in a team and never lose sleep when you are not the leader. Keep to your game, make your contributions, and seek to improve in what you do.?
We always remember geniuses like Messi, but many more like Angel Di Maria will also be remembered for their contributions to making them great.?
If you are Di Maria, be Di Maria. Don’t seek to be like Messi. That may not be what will make you great. Understand your role and stick to getting better at it.?
#OnlyGod #TheWeekAhead #WhatYouCanDoDifferently #BeYou #TeamWork?
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