People never really love the champion
Originally written in Chinese. Translated with AI, reviewed by Gary. Read the Chinese original →
I'm an England fan.
I started watching football back in school, and without noticing I've followed it for more than twenty years. Yesterday, in the World Cup semi-final, England lost again. Of course I was a bit disappointed. But a match is a match; winning and losing is normal.
What I noticed after the final whistle was something stranger.
Have you noticed that people's attitude towards Argentina, and towards Messi, seems completely different from four years ago?
At the last World Cup, almost the whole world was behind Messi. People said he had everything: Ballon d'Or, Champions League, league titles. Only the World Cup was missing. Even in Argentina some people doubted him, saying he wasn't a real leader and would never carry the national team.
So when he finally won the World Cup, the whole world felt it was the perfect ending. Many even started calling him the GOAT, the Greatest of All Time.
Yet in just four years, the wind seems to have turned.
Watching the match yesterday, the internet was flooded with "FIFA Princess" and "VARgentina". Lots of people started doubting the referees and accusing FIFA of favouring Argentina. There's no solid evidence for these claims, but there are clearly far more of these voices at this World Cup than four years ago.
Why?
Messi didn't change. His role did.
I went and read up on some psychology and sociology, and I think the reason may not be that Messi changed, but that his identity did.
Before 2022, Messi was someone who hadn't yet fulfilled his dream.
What people loved was the hero who kept trying, kept failing, and kept wanting to prove himself.
But once he actually won the World Cup, he was no longer the challenger. He was the champion. And Argentina were no longer dreamers, but the defending champions everyone wanted to beat.
Psychology has a name for this: Tall Poppy Syndrome.
The higher someone stands, the more people expect them to fall.
It isn't only football.
The Warriors in the NBA, Manchester City in the Premier League, even many successful companies go through the same thing. When they're rising, everyone cheers. Once they keep winning, neutral fans start hoping someone will pull them down.
There's another interesting effect.
When every media outlet keeps telling you "he's the GOAT" and "he's the greatest ever", human nature starts to push back.
People magnify every controversial call, every VAR check, every fifty-fifty decision, hoping to find proof that "actually, he's not that godlike".
Add the short-video era, where a fifteen-second clip of a controversial call spreads far faster than a full ninety-minute match. Very often, what spreads fastest isn't fact, but emotion.
Of course, Argentina have played a part too.
In recent years their football has leaned more and more on physicality, game management and mind games, a style that naturally attracts controversy. And after beating England yesterday, they displayed a banner about the Falkland Islands (the Malvinas), which sparked new debate and made opinions about them even more polarised.
Hope and order
Have you noticed? People never really love the champion.
What people love is someone still chasing a dream.
Because the dreamer stands for hope, and the champion stands for order.
And human nature usually leans towards hope.
Four years ago, the whole world wanted Messi to fulfil his dream. Four years later, the whole world is waiting for someone to knock Argentina off the throne.
Fascinating.
And doesn't this feel a little like Malaysia's political landscape right now?