Can Lionel Messi Be Stopped? Twenty Years Later, One Defender Still Knows How to Do So

Lionel Messi continues to be a nightmare for defenders. At 39, he is producing show-stopping moments at World Cup 2026 and doing so in ways that make his brilliance as timeless as a neatly stitched blazer. Twenty years after his World Cup debut, the question remains: can Messi be stopped? Or better yet, has he ever been stopped?

One man succeeded — at a time when the Argentine great was playing his very best brand of football.

The Setting: Santa Fe, July 2011

It came in 2011 in Santa Fe, Argentina, on a typically chilly July evening at the Brigadier General Estanislao López Stadium. The home of first division side Club Atlético Colón was the setting for a Copa América group stage match between Argentina and Colombia.

The ground is known locally as El cementerio de los elefantes — the elephants’ cemetery — due in part to Colón’s historical penchant for earning home wins against Argentina’s biggest clubs. On this day, the stadium would welcome Argentina and Lionel Messi in what was billed as a must-win game for the tournament hosts.

Argentina had been whistled and jeered after a disappointing 1-1 result against minnows Bolivia in La Plata. The pressure on the home side was ramping up heading into the match against Colombia, which had defeated Concacaf invitees Costa Rica 1-0 in its first game. The knives were being sharpened for Messi. At the time, he was a two-time Ballon d’Or winner on his way to winning a third consecutive award. His play with Barcelona didn’t always match his output with the national team — a major point of contention in Argentina.

Prior to the 2011 Copa América, Messi, then 24, had helped lead Pep Guardiola’s wonderful Barcelona side to a UEFA Champions League title over Manchester United at Wembley Stadium. An unplayable Messi glided past his United markers on his way to a man-of-the-match performance. The question of whether anyone could stop him — then or now, at World Cup 2026 — felt genuinely unanswerable.

The Man With the Assignment: Carlos Sanchez

Meanwhile, Colombian midfielder Carlos Sanchez was a bit of an unknown, even in his home country. He had left Colombia as a 19-year-old before making his professional debut for Uruguayan side River Plate de Montevideo as a central midfield prospect. The Quibdó-born Sanchez played nearly fifty times in Uruguay’s rugged first division before being transferred to Ligue 1’s Valenciennes.

At international level, Sanchez had dealt with heartbreak, having been left off Colombia’s 2007 Copa América squad. He emerged as a reliable midfielder during Colombia’s doomed 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign — consistent and hard-working, but without many standout highlights.

That was all about to change.

Sanchez didn’t play in Colombia’s opening match against Costa Rica, but with Argentina and Messi next, Colombia’s staff were searching for more defensively-minded alternatives in midfield. Famed Colombian midfielder Leonel Alvarez — whose fierce tackling and polished technique had defined the national team throughout the 1990s — was on the staff during that Copa América. A few days before the Argentina match, while the players were having lunch, Alvarez approached Sanchez with a pointed question.

“He pulled me aside and asked, ‘How do you see yourself against Messi?‘” Sanchez recalled. “I said that off the pitch I respect him. On the pitch, I’ll play my way and he’ll play his way. Leonel asked about man-marking Messi and I told him I’d do whatever he asked me to do. I was prepared for that assignment.”

Building the Game Plan

To man-mark Lionel Messi has historically been a futile attempt to accomplish the impossible. To contain him and limit the damage is often a monumental task. To nullify him completely — especially at the peak of his powers — felt like setting up a player for failure. But Sanchez was anxiously waiting for a prime-time opportunity with his national team, and there was a plan in place that made sense on paper.

“The staff and I built the game plan together,” Sanchez explained. “It was a diamond midfield shape where I had to track Messi, with the other four midfielders ahead of me shifting as the ball moved. If the ball went left and Messi stayed right, I stayed right. My objective was to make Messi play backwards. If he’s playing backwards, we’re winning.”

In training leading up to the match, a Colombia player mimicked Messi’s movements. Sanchez felt comfortable in the newly devised tactical setup. Still, nothing in training can fully prepare you for facing Messi in real life.

Colombia prepared to absorb pressure and counterattack. A draw against the hosts would be a welcome result.

The Match: Discipline, Frustration and a 0-0 That Felt Like a Victory

Sanchez wasn’t in Messi’s back pocket at all times. He scanned the midfield half-space to locate Messi but followed the ball when Argentina swung possession from left to right. When Argentina circulated to left centre-back Gabriel Milito, Sanchez would retreat and locate Messi as the Argentine sought to occupy space on the right flank.

Early in the first half, Colombia’s match plan was working. When Messi sought to receive and recycle the ball, Sanchez was there to deny him and force someone else from Argentina to make a decision. And if Messi slipped past Sanchez, centre-back Perea was ready to provide cover.

At times, Messi was surrounded by Sanchez and midfielders Abel Aguilar and Fredy Guarin, with Perea ready to pounce. It was a team effort — but it was clear that Sanchez’s primary responsibility was to limit Messi’s opportunities on the ball.

When Sanchez completed his first successful tackle on the Argentine great, he could barely believe it.

“And in that moment I said to myself, ‘Wow, I won the ball from Messi,'” Sanchez said. “This is incredible. But I kept my focus because at any moment, in half a second, he’ll make something happen and everything I’ve done would mean nothing.”

Part of the enduring mystique of Sanchez’s performance is that he didn’t commit a single foul on Messi throughout the match. Colombia manager Hernan Dario Gomez had sternly instructed Sanchez to play clean and avoid any risk of a red card. If Colombia were reduced to 10 men, the entire plan would fall apart.

“I was told to be aggressive but intelligent,” said Sanchez. “I’ve always been very aggressive to the ball but not ill-intentioned. He told me to be physical with Messi but nothing that would get me sent off. It was more like: ‘I’m here. And I’m still here.'”

Argentina dominated possession but struggled to break down Colombia’s compact, disciplined low block. The anxiety and frustration throughout the stadium increased as the first half drew to a close. Sanchez remembers Messi remaining calm amid the growing discontent from the home crowd.

“Messi never complained. He didn’t say anything to me,” said Sanchez. “He’d take the hit, get up, and call for the ball again. That honestly only increased my admiration for him. I wasn’t saying anything to him either. I’d go in, make contact, then play the fool and move away. He just kept asking for the ball.“

Halftime Adjustments: Tighter and Closer

But Messi had slipped past Sanchez on a few occasions in the first half. At halftime, Gomez told Sanchez to tighten his marking and get closer. The Argentine had created some goalscoring chances from midfield, which unsettled the Colombia manager.

“That cannot happen again,” Gomez told Sanchez inside the dressing room.

It was time to officially man-mark Lionel Messi.

In the second half, Sanchez stuck to Messi across every zone of the pitch. He won his battles. Sanchez’s work rate, coupled with Colombia’s collective defending, frustrated Messi, and the partisan crowd began to grumble. Argentina manager Sergio Batista brought on Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain to join Messi and Carlos Tevez in attack. Sanchez’s priority, however, didn’t change.

“With Messi, there’s always a different tension,” he said. “Beyond making his teammates play, he’s a killer, a winner. He passes the ball and immediately sprints toward goal. The natural instinct for a defender is to follow the ball — the moment you look away, he’s gone. His quality lets him finish with one touch, he draws defenders and opens up space for others. It required constant, relentless attention.”

As the 0-0 match neared stoppage time, Sanchez sent Messi tumbling to the ground with a perfectly timed tackle. The home crowd groaned in unison. A sarcastic applause echoed across the stadium, acknowledging what Sanchez had managed to sustain for 90 minutes.

The final whistle blew, followed by a barrage of whistles from the Argentine fans. Colombia had secured a 0-0 draw. The plan had worked.

The Shirt, the Moniker and the Legacy

Several of Sanchez’s teammates wanted to swap jerseys with Messi at full time. Sanchez, characteristically, wasn’t going to be beaten here either.

“I followed Messi all the way to the tunnel to ask for his shirt,” Sanchez said. “I thought he’d never give it to me, but the man gave it to me. Completely gracious. I stayed right on him until I got it. Today it’s one of the most important shirts I own.“

Afterwards, Sanchez became known as the Anti-Messi — a moniker that in South America elevated him among the most respected defensive midfielders on the continent.

“That match served me enormously,” he said. “It was a before and after in my career. The man was the Ballon d’Or winner, seemingly unstoppable, and after that match the label stuck. It helped me get on the radar of everyone.”

Spells with Aston Villa, Fiorentina, West Ham and Watford followed before Sanchez ended his playing days back in Colombia and Argentina.

Life After Football: Liga El Dorado and a New Mission

Today, Sanchez is busy launching the next phase of his life. Now 40 and retired, he is focused on improving youth football in Colombia through an ambitious new project. In April, Sanchez announced the creation of Liga El Dorado — a first-of-its-kind lower-division football league designed to provide a professional pathway for some of the country’s most underserved communities, including La Guajira, the region that produced Colombia superstar Luis Diaz.

“We’re a country of 50 million people, but becoming a professional footballer in Colombia is very difficult because the options are extremely scarce,” Sanchez said. “Only 980 players work as professional footballers in Colombia, because we only have two professional divisions — the first and the second. So we took on the task of researching and reaching different regions with this project, which has been very well received because it’s a genuine need.”

Corporate sponsors have backed Liga El Dorado, but the league must first receive approval from the Colombian Football Federation in order to operate. Sanchez and his partners hope to establish a tiered system similar to the setup in the US, where MLS co-exists with the USL and its three divisions.

After studying sports management and football business, Sanchez also accepted the position of sporting director at Argentine club San Lorenzo, a role he left in February after one year. He now has another calling entirely.

“I found a space where a footballer, having spent so many years in a dressing room, can make a real contribution to football leadership,” he said. “I feel more excited and passionate than ever. I’m not inventing anything. I’m taking what’s been learned elsewhere and bringing it to Colombia.”

Back to Seattle, 2026

At World Cup 2026, Lionel Messi at 39 continues to do things that defy rational explanation. The debate about how to stop him — one that has occupied coaches, analysts and defenders for two decades — remains as unresolved as ever.

Carlos Sanchez is one of the very few men who can claim, with evidence and the shirt to prove it, that he found an answer. It required a diamond midfield, relentless positioning, a strict no-foul mandate, a cooperative centre-back, and 90 minutes of the most concentrated defensive focus any single player has applied to Lionel Messi at the peak of his powers.

It produced a 0-0 draw in a Copa América group stage match. And it changed Carlos Sanchez’s life forever.

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