They just won 2 international trophies. Ofcourse, they'll praise everything related to Messi. They love him(rightly so). Even before they won the Copa America, they were praising him a lot, especially the pre-match speech that he gave vs Brazil in the Copa America final.
He showed good leadership in the World Cup. But that was like 15 years into his career. Maybe he's a good leader now and communicating well with his teammates but the point stands. Didn't see him show any fighting spirit under adversity for most of his career. He was so used to dominating every game with the best club side ever that he found himself out of place when things got tough with the National Team for instance. He literally panic-retired at the first sign of adversity! The reason was his immense privilege. Different topic points here, but the last sentence is not true. He's been compared to Maradona ever since 2006 and journalist criticized him every time for not delivering like Maradona did. When he announced his retirement, this was not his first sign of adversity.
He's a shy awkward man on camera. Even Antonella won't claim that he's charismatic. He doesn't do many interviews and public appearances outside Football and can't speak a word of English which is definitely a factor in terms of marketibility outside the hispanic world. It's similar to if he learned to play just as well with his right foot. Imagine if he had spoken English fluently, his popularity would be off the roof. He can learn to market himself better, but I never got the sense that he cared about it too much (ironically, this probably factors in why he is popular). Just because he doesn't do much interviews and what not does not mean he isn't charismatic or have terrible communication skills.
Most of Messi's popularity comes from his pure Footballing talent. Agreed.
