Meaning of Ankara Messi as decade-old popular term resurfaces in 2022
By Mia Tucker
After Argentinian maestro Lionel Messi dazzled at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar yesterday, football fans brought back the term Ankara Messi – what does it mean and how does a decade-old term stay relevant even in 2022?
On December 13th, Argentina faced Croatia in the FIFA World Cup semi-final and won the match 3-0, leading fans to hope one last time that Messi may lift that World Cup trophy after all.
Along with a goal against Croatia, Messi’s fans had a goosebump moment in the 68th minute when the maestro brought back his legendary “Ankara Messi” move, delivering a brilliant assist to Julian Alvarez, who scored the third goal of the night.
Origin of Ankara Messi
The term Ankara Messi became popular after it was used by Joaquim Maria Puyal.
The journalist and commentator was calling a Copa Del Rey semifinal game between Barcelona and Getafe at Camp Nou back in April 2007.
The phrase ‘Ankara Messi’ was first heard by fans during the broadcast of this fixture that Barca won 5-2.
What does it mean?
Messi is known for his art of dribbling and shimmying his way through with ease and poise looking ever so formidable. On that day in 2007, that’s exactly what happened, as the Argentinian danced past quite a few of his opponents to score a truly wonderful goal.
‘Ankara Messi’ means ‘faces Messi’ as the word ‘encarar’ in Spanish means confrontation of some sort. It all started when Puyal was providing his heated commentary, talking about how Messi was dribbling past everyone.
Another way to look at this is Ankara (Encara) Messi can be taken as a direct translation in Catalan for “still Messi,” as in even after facing opponents back to back, the Argentinian was still in possession of the ball.
As the announcer was from Barcelona, it makes more sense that he was using the Catalan version of the word “encara” which translates to “still” in English.
The audio of ‘Ankara Messi’ became a symbol of how to tackle your way through opponents to reach a specific goal. It even became a viral TikTok Trend later.
Be it a football commentary moment or a life obstacle you must overcome, ‘Ankara Messi’ stays relevant.
Camp Nou, 18 de abril de 2007. 20 años, 10 meses y 26 días días después, Messi recreó el gol de Maradona a Inglaterra y el Barcelona le ganó 5 a 2 al Getafe: "Ví hueco y tiré para adelante", explicó Lio.
— David Mosquera (@renaldinhos) April 18, 2021
Fans bring back popular audio edit
Messi’s assist last night has compelled fans to bring back the signature Ankara Messi edit, and Twitter is flooded with clips of the same.
Emotional fans felt a sense of nostalgia seeing the Argentinian superstar’s run yesterday – he was rolling back the years.
Check out the edit with the old commentary below:
Another angle:
A fan gushed, “Stars are aligned for Messi to win the World Cup. This will be the greatest end of any sporting career. Can’t wait for the final. I still remember watching ‘Ankara’ Messi’s goal live as a teenager in the late 2000s and becoming a fan.”
G.O.A.T as they say:
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