Dex Ponce: Messi Nearly Lost to a Country of 600,000 People. Now He's Playing in Your Building.

Lionel Messi nearly went home on Friday.

Not a hypothetical. Not a "scare." Argentina was nine minutes from penalties against Cape Verde -- population roughly 530,000 -- and needed a deflected header off a corner in the 111th minute to survive. A 40-year-old goalkeeper named Vozinha denied Messi four times. The defending world champions got equalized twice by a country smaller than Cobb County.

That man walks into your stadium on Tuesday.

I'm 83% sure this is the biggest individual sporting event Atlanta has ever hosted. Super Bowls are annual. The Olympics were spread across a dozen venues and two weeks. This is the all-time World Cup leading scorer -- 20 career goals, eight straight matches with a score, sixth World Cup, age 39 -- playing an elimination game in a single building on a single Tuesday afternoon.

The opponent? Egypt. Playing only their second knockout match since 1934. Ninety-two years between elimination games. Salah is 34. Two farewell tours, one elimination game, your building.

Here's what I know about this city: 73,019 showed up for an MLS Cup. 68,239 came out on a Wednesday for England versus Congo. You showed up for Harry Kane. Now the most famous athlete on the planet is playing three days from now at noon and the cheapest ticket is $1,625.

If Argentina wins Tuesday and wins the quarterfinal, they come back to MBS for the semifinal on July 15. Same building, eight days apart. Atlanta could become the last American stage of Messi's career.

If you skip this, you'll spend the rest of your life pretending you were there.