Buend it like Messi
ARGENTINA CALL IS EMI’S DREAM
MOST people who try to keep Lionel Messi quiet need therapy afterwards but, for Emi Buendia, it led to the minute that changed his life.
Before he became Norwich’s conductor of the orchestra and the Championship’s Player of the Season, he was a young pup on the fringes of Getafe’s first team in La Liga.
When Messi calls the tune, stopping Barcelona is as rewarding as chasing shadows down a mine shaft.
The only time Buendia got near La Pulga Atomica (Atomic Flea) in one game was at half-time when Messi made a brief introduction.
“At first, I could not hear what he said and I was not even sure he was talking to me,” said Buendia, whose 14 goals and 17 assists have led the Canaries to the brink of their second Championship title in three seasons.
“I had been playing for Spain’s Under-19s but had a chance to play for Argentina’s Under-20s and he asked me, ‘What do you want to do?’
“We spoke for less than a minute but my answer was simple, ‘Easy! I want to play for Argentina, I want to play in the same team as you’.
“To speak with him in a situation like that was amazing. It was one of the most important minutes of my life.
“Did I make an impression on the pitch? It was 6-0 to them, a tough game, and I didn’t have too much time on the ball but maybe I did something to impress him.”
Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber pulled off the steal of the century by landing a quality player for £1.4 million in June 2018. And now an Argentina call-up is one of his targets for 24-year-old Buendia.
“The main aim this year was to get back into the Premier League, so that one has been achieved,” said the attacking midfielder.
“Every Argentinian player wants to play for his national team and that would be something special for me.”