"Girls, it's Messi — I mean, it's no big deal." Vicky Granatto said those words after Las Leonas won their third Women's Hockey World Cup in Amsterdam. She meant it as a rallying cry for field hockey's own legends. Argentina heard it as a slight against a god.
The backlash was swift and disproportionate. Granatto's Instagram was flooded with hostile messages within hours. She made her account private. And her sister — Las Leonas captain María José "Majo" Granatto — was left to do damage control for a team that had just achieved something historic.
What Vicky actually meant — and why it didn't matter
To be fair to Vicky, her point wasn't anti-Messi. She was trying to centre hockey's own icons — Luciana Aymar, Mercedes Margalot, Cecilia Rognoni — players who built Argentina's field hockey identity across decades. A third World Cup title deserves to stand on its own, not be defined by who sent a congratulatory WhatsApp.
But context collapses fast on the internet, and in Argentina, anything that can be read as minimising Messi will be. The timing made it worse. Messi had announced his retirement from international football just weeks after leading Argentina to the 2026 World Cup final at 39 years old — a run that, even in defeat to Spain, cemented his farewell as one of the most emotional exits in football history. The country was already raw.
So Granatto's comments, however well-intentioned, landed like a lit match in a room full of fumes.
Majo steps in — and draws the line
Captain Majo Granatto posted her own response on Instagram stories, and it was carefully worded. "As a person, an Argentine, and an athlete, I deeply admire you, and I always have," she wrote, addressing Messi directly. "There is no one like you. I know what you mean to the country and the entire world. I never said, nor would I ever say, otherwise. Always Messi."
It's the kind of statement a captain produces when the team's reputation is on the line — measured, genuine-sounding, and aimed squarely at separating the squad from her sister's words. Whether she personally agreed with Vicky or not, this was leadership under pressure.
This isn't Argentina's first rodeo with Messi-adjacent controversy. During the FIFA Women's World Cup, forward Yamila Rodríguez was pilloried simply for having a Cristiano Ronaldo tattoo on her leg. She issued an emotional public apology. For admiring another footballer. That tells you everything about the temperature in Argentine football fandom right now.
Las Leonas won the World Cup. That should be the story. Instead, the captain is writing Instagram apologies on behalf of her sister, and the team's historic achievement is buried under a social media storm. Three World Cup titles — 2002, 2010, and now Amsterdam — and the headlines are about Messi's congratulations message.
Vicky Granatto wanted to celebrate hockey's own heroes. That's a legitimate argument. She just picked the worst possible moment — and the worst possible country — to make it.
