 |
| Lionel Messi Ballon D'Or |
After winning 3 straight consecutive Ballon d’Ors (2009,
2010 & 2011), football managers, experts, players, media and the fan have asked
the question: is Lionel Messi the greatest football ever?
 |
| Lionel Messi vs Ronaldinho |
It is very tough to give a straight answer to this question.
We have seen many spectacular players from the past to the present era such as
Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldo, Raul, Del Piero, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry,
etc. All these players have become a significant icon towards the football era.
Each one of these players has different abilities such as goal scoring,
playmaking and skill. Because football is a team sport, people have different
opinions on what matters the most.
Does scoring alot of goals or winning team trophies or
winning individual awards identify a great player? If so then you can put
Lionel Messi under all these categories. In the 2011-12 season, he broke the
goal scoring record by scoring an astonishing 73 goals. That was only one of
many records he has broken. He also made UEFA Champions League history by
becoming the first player to ever score 5 goals against a team in one match. He
also became the first player to top-score in four successive Champions League
campaigns. In that same season, he set the current goal scoring record in a
single La Liga season, scoring 50 goals.
He has also won 5 La ligas, 2 Copa Del Rey’s, 5 Supercopa de
Espana, 3 Champions League, 2 Super Cups and 2 World Club Cups. It seems he has done it all and no doubt he
could be consider the greatest player of all time. But there is still one trophy that he has
still not won which is the World Cup which is considered the biggest honour
because you are winning it for your country not your club.
 |
| Lionel Messi for Argentina |
Critics have argued about Lionel Messi’s performance when he
plays for Argentina. It seems he cannot emulate his goal scoring abilities like
in Barcelona. Fans and the media stated it is because of the players he is
surrounded with in Fc Barcelona such as Xavi and Iniesta who are the two key
play makers. This allows Messi’s role in Barcelona a lot easier because he does
not have to carry the team on his shoulders. While in Argentina, there is no
real play makers thus Messi must play this role for the Argentina team and have
other strikers such as Kun Aguero and Carlos Tevez play the attacking role.
After weighing both sides, there is no doubt that Lionel
Messi deserves to be mentioned in the same conversation as “who is the greatest
footballer of all time”. But because of his different performance for club and
country the question is still left wide open for other players to take that
honour. At the age of 25, the sky is the limit for Messi and by the time his
career is over, he could possibly be considered the GREATEST FOOTBALLER OF ALL
TIME.
No comments:
Post a Comment