Ankara Messi meaning is ‘still Messi’ and it was used to describe an iconic Lionel Messi goal against Getafe in 2007. The phrase has become immensely popular on the internet over the years.
Lionel Messi is the best footballer of his generation and arguably the best of all time. He has won everything there is in both club and international football and Messi recently inspired Argentina to their third FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
Despite his small physique and stature, he has a gigantic presence on the pitch and has become a household name. His incredible talent and ability to produce moments of magic have also ushered him a great status as an icon of pop culture.
If you’ve been a football follower on the internet for a while, chances are you have come across the term Ankara Messi which is said several times in quick succession as he rushes towards the goal. But what does Ankara Messi mean and why was the commentator using it to describe the Argentinian?
Ankara Messi: Meaning
The term Ankara Messi actually dates back to 2007 when Lionel Messi scored one of the best goals of his career while he was still a teenager. In a Copa Del Rey match between Barcelona and Getafe, Messi took control of the ball in the middle of the pitch and dribbled his way past several players and rounded off the goalkeeper to score the goal.
Also Read: Why did Messi leave Barcelona
A goal of that calibre is expected to leave fans speechless. Such was also the case with Catalan commentator Joaquim Maria Puyal who ended up watching Messi mesmerize the crowd by leaving defender after defender in his wake.
Trying to achieve the right words to describe his run, Puyal resorted to saying Messi several times. He eventually moved on to say ‘Ankara Messi, Ankara Messi’ repeatedly. The meaning of Ankara Messi in English means ‘Still Messi’ as the word ‘encarar’ is a Spanish term that means ‘still’ in English.
However, there is a small catch. Although the phrase Ankara Messi is immensely popular around the world on social media, especially Twitter and Tik Tok, it is not the exact translation of the actual phrase. The commentator Joaquim Maria Puyal is actually saying ‘Encara Messi’ in Catalan which is a third-person singular verb conjugation.
Also Read: Messi jersey number
A reddit user called TSKWilliam further explained that, “It’s “Encara Messi”, encara meaning “still” in Catalan. The commentator Joaquim María Puyal screamed this during Leo’s dribbling run when he scored that goal against Getafe. Ankara is the capital of Turkey.”
Origins of the term “Ankara Messi”
Now that we know Ankara Messi meaning and what it stands for, let’s discuss how the term came to originate and what prompted Puyal to say it. As mentioned before, this incident took place in 2007.
On April 18, 2007, Barcelona were up against Getafe in the 2006-07 Copa Del Rey semi-final first leg fixture at the Camp Nou. The game was eventually won 5-2 by Barcelona thanks to Messi scoring two goals.
Also Read: How many Guinness World Records does Messi have
There was a point in the match where Lionel Messi received the ball from Xavi in the middle of the pitch. He immediately beat a defender by taking a swift touch to get past him and with a moment’s notice, he was off.
Messi quickly hit his stride and was bursting through towards the Getafe goal. As he began approaching the penalty area, Messi split apart three defenders who were coming to close him down – one sliding in and two going for standing tackles. He then drove inside the box and with beat the onrushing goalkeeper with another touch before chipping the ball into the net in order to avoid another defender who was sliding in to block his shot.
The goal reminded everyone of Diego Maradona’s majestic goal against England in the quarter-final of the FIFA World Cup in 1986, a goal that was later awarded the ‘Goal of the Century’ award by FIFA.
It’s no wonder then that seeing the goal in real time put the Catalan commentator speechless and he could only get the phrase that Messi was still on the ball ‘Encara Messi’ out of his mouth.
How Ankara Messi went viral online
While football is a popular game around the entire world, it isn’t the only reason why the phrase Ankara Messi has become extremely popular and has taken a place in popular culture. The internet and social media, especially, has played a large part in that.
Content creator, comedian, and streamer Lucas Rodriguez, who posts regularly on Twitch and Booyah! was the person who began this trend of Ankara Messi. In the trend, the Ankara Messi sound clip is used when someone is close to achieve their goal but there are some obstacles along the way that they need to overcome.
The sound also reached Tik Tok where it is used beside a mix of football-related videos and other clips, for instance, a teenager trying to kiss his crush, implying dramatic progress towards the final goal.
The phrase is also used often to poke fun at Cristiano Ronaldo using memes while highlighting Messi’s greatness as a player.
The phrase ‘Ankara Messi’ has become so popular that it has become like a sort of nickname for Messi, even overtaking his previous nickname ‘La Pulga’. Even the creator of the trend Lucas Rodriguez have been very surprised by the success of the trend and how quickly it caught fire online.
“It was funny to me and I started saying ‘Ankara’ to Messi and there are people who joined in. It’s kind of embarrassing to tell it because it doesn’t contain any jokes. It’s just part of the stupidity of total nonsense,” Rodriguez explained in an interview.
The nickname was also used by the Argentinian national team social media account that uploaded a picture of Messi kissing the Copa America trophy with ‘Ankara’ as the only text. They even received a response from the official social media profile of the Turkish capital, who wrote ‘Buenos Aires’ along with a light blue heart and a goat emoji (for the acronym Greatest of All Time). Ankara is the capital of Turkey and that is what prompted this funny exhange.
FAQs
The phrase Ankara Messi is in which language?
The phrase Ankara Messi is in Catalan which means ‘still Messi’.
Who is the commentator who says Ankara Messi?
Joaquim Maria Puyal is the commentator who was heard saying Ankara Messi repeatedly during the match between Barcelona and Getafe.
When did the Ankara Messi moment take place?
The Ankara Messi took place on 18 April, 2007 during the Copa Del Rey semi-final at the Camp Nou.
