Messi’s magic memento for keeper Darci La Bella vies for four straight
Auckland City goalkeeper coach Enaut Zubikarai knows better than anyone in New Zealand just how good Argentina superstar Lionel Messi really is with first-hand experience.
One of Messi’s 791 career goals was scored against Zubikarai during a Copa del Rey semifinal between Barcelona and Real Sociedad in 2014.
The 38-year-old met Messi twice during his playing days.
Zubikarai is likely the only person in New Zealand who has ever played against Messi, arguably the greatest player ever to grace a football pitch.
Messi will lead Argentina against France in the World Cup final in Qatar on Monday, where he is aiming to crown his legendary career with his first World Cup title. It is expected to be Messi’s final World Cup game.
‘‘I have played against a lot of amazing players but I’ll say Messi is the best player I have ever played against, for sure,’’ Zubikarai said.
‘‘It is special to say I have shared the field of play with Lionel Messi and it is something I will always remember. He is a living legend.’’
Before he moved to New Zealand in 2016 to play and then coach at National League champions Auckland City, Zubikarai had enjoyed a long professional career in his native Spain and Portugal.
The club he spent the most time at was Real Sociedad in the city of San Sebastian where he was a team-mate of France forward Antoine Greizmann, who will go head-to-head with
Enaut Zubikarai, left
Messi in the World Cup final.
‘‘Antoine arrived at our club when he was just 17 years old so I witnessed his evolution as a player and as a person. It was clear from the beginning that he was a very special talent. For someone so young he was already
very skilled and his potential was obvious to everyone.
‘‘As he evolved as a footballer it was harder and harder for me to save his shots and freekicks in training.’’
Messi and Greizmann were the two scorers when Barcelona and Real
Sociedad battled to a 1-1 draw in the second leg of the 2013-14 Copa del Rey semifinal.
Barcelona won 3-1 on aggregate, having taken out the first leg 2-0 – a match Zubikarai was also in goal for.
Before every game, Zubikarai said he would study up on opposition players to see if he could uncover any weaknesses. Messi, he said, had none.
‘‘He is the most complete player I’ve ever seen.
‘‘In La Liga every single game requires a lot of preparation in advance but of course with teams like Real Madrid or Barca this preparation is even higher as they have very special, highly skilled players.
‘‘So knowing Messi is one of the world’s best players, lots of individual videos were needed to get ready for the game. It sounds easy to say but it is his overall quality. He is on another level to everyone else. His technique is precise and he’s a very intelligent player – one moment he is quiet and the next he has changed the game.’’
Last year Zubikarai received a memento for being scored on by Messi in the Copa del Rey semifinal.
When Messi scored his 644th for Barcelona, overtaking Pele by scoring the most goals for a single club, Budweiser teamed up with ad agency Deutch and sent numbered bottles of beer to all the goalkeepers he had scored against.
One made its way to New Zealand. ‘‘One doesn’t receive a beer from Messi every day,’’ Zubikarai said. ‘‘I am part of a special group of goalkeepers, I suppose.’’
MESSI V MBAPPE B13
Taranaki trainer Allan Sharrock is hoping to end Darci La Bella’s preparation on a high when he treks south to Trentham today.
The daughter of Darci Brahma has continued her rich vein of form in her five-year-old season, winning her last three starts, including the Group III Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) and Group II Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m).
Her win tally now sits at 10 from 16 starts, and Sharrock believes she can extend it this weekend in the Group II Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m). ‘‘She is in the same vein and has been working well, so I am pretty happy with her,’’ Sharrock said.
‘‘I wouldn’t rule out Robbie’s [Patterson] mare [Coventina Bay]. She is a genuine Group One horse.
‘‘Hopefully with residual fitness with my mare I might have a hop on her, but she did trial well the other day. I expect it will be a tight contest between the two of them.’’
Patterson is expecting dramatic improvement from his stable star.
The Taranaki horseman is confident the seven-year-old will show her true form following an unplaced firstup effort in an open sprint at Te Rapa last month.
Patterson’s optimism has been fuelled by Coventina Bay’s progress since that outing and he believes the daughter of Shamexpress is primed for a bold showing. ‘‘It just didn’t pan out for her at Te Rapa and the next morning one of her eyes was closed over after she copped a clod,’’ he said.
‘‘She’s super now and had a jumpout at Stratford on Monday and went enormous, she’s back to probably 98 percent of her full capacity.
‘‘I think you’ll see something special from her on Saturday, she’s that well and pretty fit. She showed that explosive turn of foot in the jump-out and I am very confident that with some luck she will be in it.’’
She will be ridden by Craig Grylls, who is also booked to partner Time Test’s son Times Up in The Pavemasters 3YO (1200m) following a smart debut success on his home track earlier this month.
Darci La Bella will head for a spell following her weekend assignment and Sharrock can’t wait to tackle some Group I targets with her next year. ‘‘It will be her last run for the season. She was up through the winter, so I am quite happy to call it quits,’’ he said.
Sharrock will also line up Ladies Man in the Rich Hill Stallions 1600 as he prepares for a tilt at the Group III Wellington Cup (3200m) next month.
Meanwhile, Sharrock has a chance of further stakes success at Te Rapa on Saturday in the Group III Lawnmaster Eulogy Stakes (1600m).
The race has been transferred to the Hamilton track following last Saturday’s meeting abandonment at Awapuni, and Sharrock said both Sophmaze and Librarsi haven’t taken any ill effect from the travel.
‘‘It is special to say I have shared the field of play with Lionel Messi. He is a living legend.’’