Lionel Messi: Already a legend or a one in the making?
Lionel Messi took the world by storm when he came to the limelight in the La Liga. Immediately, people started comparing him with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Diego-Maradona-c11160, the legendary Argentinean who was known for his exceptional quality.
Many comparisons have been made in the world of football between the contemporary players and the greats of the past. However, this was the only comparison that had some legs to stand on as Lionel Messi has proven his worth to the world.
In the treble-winning season with Barcelona, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 went on to swap the awards for the Best Player in the World, including Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009. In the next season, Messi equalised the record for Barcelona with 47 goals
and went on to win the combination of the previous two awards once again. At that time, he was constantly being compared with the contemporary greats, the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 and others. The silent rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi
had become a real deal after Messi started to gain more and more popularity.
However, the ongoing 2010-11 season has proven to be another brilliant season for the Argentinean maestro. Messi has surpassed his previous record with 52 goals already this season. The Argentinean is the top scorer in Europe once again with 11 goals. In
Copa del Rey, he is the joint top scorer with 7 goals while he trails Cristiano Ronaldo with 2 goals in the La Liga. However, he has an overall lead of 6 goals over his rival, which might improve further as there are still four matches left for the youngster.
In addition to this, Lionel Messi has brought something else to the table this season. He has made 21 assists this season- 18 in the Primera Division and 3 in the Champions League. This is something exceptional as the best player in the world has played
a direct role in at least 73 goals so far in the current campaign. Although the statistics regarding this achievement are not clear, yet this is something unprecedented in the last few decades of football.
Lionel Messi is now in a position to claim his third consecutive award, completing an incredible hat-trick. As players like Ronaldo, Kaka and others are involved in a race against Messi, the Argentinean is running against time. At 23 years of age, Lionel
Messi is going to assume a legendary status and will be compared with the greats of the past only, rather than the players of this age.
Despite achieving greatness at such a young stage, there is something still missing in the career of Messi. He is found to be a totally different player when it comes to his national side http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Argentina-c2841, while Maradona was the one who won the World Cup for his
nation. This is probably the only thing left on Messi’s mind, who will definitely be regarded as the best of all ages when he accomplishes this task as well.
The performance with Argentina has really let Lionel Messi down in the past. The performance of his side in the 2010 FIFA World Cup was good at one stage but they were brutally beaten by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904 in the quarter-finals. This is something that the critics of
Messi are using against him. However, this will not stop him from entering the list of the greats and included amongst the likes of Maradona, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pele-c40189, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini etc.
Lionel Messi has improved in every single season that he has stayed with Barcelona. Every year he shows signs of improvement and still the world is not looking at the best of him.
Therefore, the great Argentinean will keep on moving within the list of legends and will definitely take the top spot when he finally wins a World Cup for his national side.
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