​It is perhaps an insight into the mind of a genius in terms of how he plays, if not necessarily how he thinks.In the brief words that Lionel Messi has already said about England-Argentina, he’s talked as if it’s just another big game. That’s not a tactic, either, in the way manager Lionel Scaloni has attempted to diffuse so much discussion of the Falklands.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYou can see the same from Messi in a completely different setting.Lionel Messi possesses a singular footballing focus (Getty)In the Amazon documentary series about Diego Simeone, Living Match by Match’ there’s inevitably an entire episode that builds up to the famous World Cup last-16 match in 1998. All manner of figures speak, from Javier Zanetti to a smiling David Beckham, and even Messi.The Argentine great is friends with Simeone and the interview is presumably used just because he’s Messi, since he doesn’t say much.As everyone else goes into the unique feeling of England-Argentina, the emotion and fire, perhaps Argentina’s greatest ever player comes out with the following.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I very much remember the 1998 World Cup that I watched a lot, with my family. We went out to play football on the street after the match.”And that’s it.Lionel Messi appears able to separate himself from the emotion of a single game (Getty)In other words, this great spectacle of an occasion didn’t really move a child just turned 11, other than cause him to go out and kick a ball himself. Messi just… plays.And it’s actually that which poses the true danger for England, as the national team faces maybe the greatest player of all time for the first time. That fact or the opposition don’t mean all that much to Messi, outside being another fixture in pursuit of the greatest prize of all. As those close to him say: “He treats a match against Cincinnati away on a Wednesday night the same as he does Brazil.”Lionel Messi is able to sit above the emotional maelstrom (Getty)It’s only the World Cup itself that brings an extra wonder, explaining those tears after Egypt. He might see all of this as a bonus since Qatar but he’s aware every game could be his last in the competition, and wants to prolong it.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThose around him certainly don’t want this particular fixture to be the last.It is a quirk of history that England have never faced Messi, a consequence of the luck of the draw, the power of big clubs and international football politics. That is almost a shame in the context of one the great football nations never getting to face one of the great players at his peak, even if it spared some defenders humiliation.Even those embarrassed by Messi, however, end up seeing it as a privilege. That, to their credit, is how Nico O’Reilly and Jordan Pickford are viewing it.“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” O’Reilly said. “I can’t wait for the challenge.”Nico O’Reilly is