Soccer Player Profile: Lionel Messi
The World Cup brings together the biggest football stars of the world, and they don't get more 'starry' than Lionel Messi. Argentina’s little magician lit up the La Liga season with 46 goals, helping Barcelona win the league title and coming close to defending their Champions league title. All of this, and he’s just 22 years old. Ever since Leo Messi started playing for Barca, comparisons with Diego Maradona were made. Messi himself always maintained that he was very much his own player and that such comparisons did not faze him.
Jumping to 2010 and Diego Maradona is coaching the Argentinean side, a side built around the talents of one Lionel Messi. In one of the friendly games before the tournament started, Maradona was asked why he didn’t play Messi and he responded by saying that the Argentinean fans will never forgive him if Messi gets injured before the World Cup. When Diego Mardona says something like that it becomes obvious that he’s talking about someone special.
Lionel Messi was brought through the Barcelona academy system and then made his way into the team at the age of 17. At the time, Barcelona was starting to challenge the mighty Real Madrid once again. At the time, Ronaldinho was at the helm, helping to construct a Barcelona revival. Messi was playing along-side the best player in the world at the time and it is clear that he gained a lot from the experience.
Messi quickly established himself in the side, scoring some important goals. His status was certainly rising, and with Ronaldinho departing for AC Milan it was time for Messi to step up, and step up he did. After Ronaldinho’s transfer, Messi and Barcelona went on to win everything, literally. Barca won the UEFA Champions league, Spanish La Liga, Spanish Cup, World Club football Cup, under the guidance of coach Pep Guardiola. Messi was instrumental to the success of his team and once again the comparisons between him and the greatest Argentinean player of all time, Diego Maradona, were brought up. In fact, some people began to suggest that Messi could very well surpass the likes of Maradona and Pele and go on to establish himself as the best football player of all time.
While it is true that Messi has achieved all there is to achieve in the world of club football, it is important not to forget that he has not led his national team to glory just yet. The all-time greats like Maradona, Zinedine Zidane and Pele, have all won the world cup, in Pele’s case, more than once. The debate has raged to no end and it has left opinions of fans, and critics, divided.
The World Cup this year is Messi’s chance to put himself right up there with the players he has been compared with. Messi is undoubtedly a world class player, but in order to be considered truly great he will have to win the World Cup for Argentina. In the first two matches of the World Cup the Argentinean prodigy has produced two outstanding displays resulting in two wins for Argentina. A place in the next round looks to be guaranteed. What separates great players from good players is their knack of producing amazing performances when their team needs it most, and if Argentina is going to win the world cup then Messi will have to be that player for them.
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