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Thursday, April 19, 2007

Lionel Messi - Maradona Comparisons Resurface

This is for those football 'fans' who wake up once in four years for the World Cup and lapse into deep football insulation after that. Although it becomes harder to ignore feats such a this [refer Youtube video]. Plenty has been said about Messi's potential to fulfill the prophecies that burden a lot of Argentinian child prodigies - the inevitable comparisons with the great Maradona. As much as it has been difficult for most of the 'prodigies' to live up to such standards, the more I watch Messi, the more I am compelled to believe that he might after all be the real deal. This clip thats in the news these days comes closest to Maradona's famous goal against England. Watch this, as he skins four Getafe players on his way to glory. Notice the low center of gravity as he turns ever so quickly leaving other players dazed, and the acceleration as he runs towards the box. The fact that he's just 19 makes for scary viewing/reading.





In case you haven't seen the original one by the legend himself then here's that clip. Notice the similarities. All Messi needs now is a little more physical strength and to stay fit more often than not. *sigh* And they say Cristiano Ronaldo's the best player in the world. A little premature, don't you think? (And this is coming from a Man United fan!)

2 comments:

  1. A little premature... maybe even the maradona comparison.. even though messi's this goal is probably a bit better than maradona's... but i'd still love to see messi do this kinda stuff at a bigger stage like a champions league semi final or a world cup knockout match...

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  2. [Amit]
    Agree. Living up to comparisons with legends need a lot of effort from a player. He would need to deliver on the biggest stage more often, so that he can affirm that belief on the observers. Unfortunately for him, this effort was in the Copa del Rey (the Spanish version of the FA cup) and not in the quarterfinal of a the World Cup (against England) like Maradona's!

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