TORONTO – Every day before batting practice, Dioner Navarro walks around the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse sporting a Lionel Messi FC Barcelona jersey until it’s time to change into his team’s gear.
“He’s been my favourite player since he came up as a 16-year-old,” says the veteran catcher. “He’s been amazing, the sky is the limit for him. He’s really humble, that’s what I like the most – you never hear stuff about Messi off the soccer pitch. I compare him to Mariano Rivera, you knew Rivera was going to get you out with a cutter. Messi, everyone knows he prefers the left foot, but he still beats you.”
Navarro expects that trend to continue at the World Cup, which he predicts will be won by Messi’s Argentina. To show his support, Navarro just this week switched from the club jersey to Argentina’s national team shirt with Messi on the back.
“I think they’re going to play Brazil in the final, and I don’t think anybody (is a threat to Argentina),” says Navarro. “Not even France, not even England, nobody. I just have this weird feeling that Messi is going to take over the World Cup and destroy it.”
At least one of his Blue Jays teammates, Adam Lind, agrees, also predicting a tournament triumph for the Argentines. Jose Bautista, on the other hand, is picking Spain, while Erik Kratz, a defender on his high school soccer team invited to play the sport in college, would like to see host Brazil win but thinks Portugal will end up victorious.
“I love big matches in any sport where the home team wins it,” says Kratz. “The fans would go nuts if Brazil wins it, and you can’t discount that. Once they get past that first round, you can run that momentum. … But to me it’s between Argentina and Portugal and I’m going to go with Portugal.”
Bautista’s favourite team is Spain and he enjoys most watching Fernando Torres.
“He’s a striker, the position I could see myself playing if I ever did play,” says Bautista. “He’s probably Spain’s best player, so that doesn’t hurt.”
The star slugger hasn’t always rooted for the Spaniards, saying “I’ve switched from time-to-time, from Italy, to Brazil, to Spain. The last two or three World Cups, Spain’s always been my favourite. I know it’s hard to win back-to-back, I don’t know how easy that’s going to be.”
Navarro’s loyalties to Messi and FC Barcelona don’t come by chance.
“My brother went to play amateur baseball in Spain in 1998 and he was based in Tenerife,” recalls Navarro. “Fortunately enough the team he was playing for was owned by the Barcelona organization. When he came back home after that year, he brought us a bunch of Barcelona gear and I’ve been a Barcelona fan since 2000.”
That’s why as soon as the World Cup is over, the jersey is going “back to Barcelona.”
Navarro, Bautista, Kratz and Lind agreed to share their picks for teams to emerge from the group stage with Sportsnet.
Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon
Navarro: Brazil, Croatia
Bautista: Brazil, Mexico
Lind: Brazil, Mexico
Kratz: Brazil, Mexico
Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia
Navarro: Spain, Chile
Bautista: Spain, Netherlands
Lind: Spain, Netherlands
Kratz: Spain, Netherlands
Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan
Navarro: Colombia, Japan
Bautista: Ivory Coast, Colombia
Lind: Greece, Japan
Kratz: Colombia, Greece
Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy
Navarro: England, Uruguay
Bautista: England, Italy
Lind: Uruguay, Italy
Kratz: England, Italy
Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras
Navarro: France, Ecuador
Bautista: France, Switzerland
Lind: Switzerland, France
Kratz: France, Switzerland
Group F: Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria, Iran
Navarro: Argentina, Nigeria
Bautista: Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lind: Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kratz: Argentina, Nigeria
Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, United States
Navarro: Portugal, Germany
Bautista: Germany, Portugal
Lind: Germany, Ghana
Kratz: Germany, Portugal
Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea
Navarro: Belgium, Algeria
Bautista: Belgium, Russia
Lind: Russia, Belgium
Kratz: Algeria, Belgium