The thing is Messi carried his team to the world cup, without him they wouldn’t have qualified. That’s even ignoring the three finals he helped take them to.
I know he carried them to the World Cup and to the finals, but they also lost all of them.
And the WC, almost missed out on it.
I don’t know, watching Messi sulk around in that NT just doesn’t look right. He doesn’t look happy.
I like Messi, as I said, I always considered him the GOAT, but I have really gotten to respect and admire Ronaldo too, his stats and pure determination don’t lie.
Ronaldo had less World Cup goals than Messi before the start of this World Cup and also was just decent at the Euro’s.
Let’s not act like he’s been excellent on the international big stage all this time, also this tounament is far from over.
It’s all a bit reactionary tbh, it was Messi’s sheer force of will that took Argentina to the World Cup in the first place. Practically every Argentina player expects him to do everything for the team, it’s embarrassing. They play with no bravery for their national team, their record without him is abysmal.
I must say that all things considered that’s not a bad team. Sure, I would play Pavon from the start but Sampaoli said he’s more like an impact player and he’s not wrong in that. The thing with Dybala is that he played like shit in every match, the only one in which he played really well he was sent off in the first half so is more the desire and the expectation in his ability that his actual end product. Besides that, not seeing Di Maria and Biglia makes my heart beat. I hate those two.
Don’t get me wrong I respect Ronaldo too, you could probably make a case that him and Messi are the greatest of all time considering what they’ve done for 10+ years now. I also think comparisons can be a bit unfair as they play two different roles for their clubs and always have. I just find it weird how some pundits think Messi has to win the World Cup to justify his status.
Also I get the feeling Messi doesn’t enjoy the NT as much as his club. It could be due to the added pressure or to the fact that Barca suit his style and needs much better on the pitch. Even considering him and Aguero are really good friends off the pitch they have never quite connected on it like Messi and Suarez have for Barca.
@Feche I’ve always rated Di Maria in the national team, but I agree about Biglia haha
Messi might not need to win the world cup to win the Ronaldo argument. However he most certainly does to win any comparison with Maradona.
Argentina could simply not have won the world cup in 86 without him and his sheer weight of personality got them somehow to another final in 1990.
From that point of view Messi has played with better sides and to a degree failed imo.
What Maradona did with the NT was incredible to be fair, and getting the team to final in 1990 outranks winning it in 1986 to be honest (considering everything that was going on). But he also had good squads, the team of 1986 had some players in it too and had the right amount of luck.
But what Messi has done at the club level, all the titles and his goals/assists stats, surely puts him above Maradona? For the sheer brilliance of Maradona he was only really at the top of the game for 5 years (roughly…)
Messi for me is the highest consistent footballer of all time. However Maradonas success comes at the heighest level of football. Thats the international stage and the the Italian league which at that time and still is imo was the most competitive league ever.
For me its Diego but I wouldnt get in a heated debate about Messi being given the accolade.
