There will be no resisting the comparisons now. Lionel Messi, who has been hailed as the new Diego Maradona since he was a boy, scored a goal on Wednesday that was almost a perfect copy of the great man’s legendary effort against England in the 1986 World Cup — FIFA’s goal of the century.
Beating two men inside his own half with quicksilver footwork, Barcelona’s 19-year-old Argentine weaved his way down field. He jinked past two more Getafe players on his way into the area, drew the keeper and then clipped the ball over the defender who had sprinted back in the hope of clearing the ball off the line. It was the first of two Messi goals in Barca’s 5-2 Cup semi-final win and it was quite simply a masterpiece.
The only goal I can remember to rival it since Ive been in Spain was Ronaldos mesmerising mixture of power, speed and agility as he danced his way past half the Compostela team to score for Barcelona in the 1996-97 season another breathtaking strike.
Does Messis latest creation confirm his status as the true heir to Maradona? As they say over at Notas de futbol, Messi’s goal may have been even better than Maradona’s but it was not on such a grand stage as the World Cup.
The debate will go on, but for now one other question occurs to me. Has there been a better goal anywhere in the world this season?
Simon Baskett is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Madrid
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8 comments so far
What he did only further underlines his potential as heir to the great Maradona. To really become the next Maradona, he needs to deliver the 3rd World Cup to Argentina
- Posted by Five TimesHere’s how similar Messi’s goal really was to Maradona’s. Watch them both at the same time on this video:
- Posted by Antonio Lopezhttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1r5c9_ comparativa-gol-de-messi-y-marad
Great goal, great player. It seems there´s no real limit to what he could achieve. Ronaldinho is better at the moment but if Messi keeps on progressing he could be 10 times the player.
- Posted by MattFive Times, what about the Champions League? If he leads Barcelona to two or three European Cups wouldn´t all that outweigh the World Cup these days?
- Posted by RafaMaradona and Pele are legendary because they are even known outside the world of football. They achieved this distinction by dominating the most watched event in the history of man… the World Cup.
Skills-wise you can be better than the abovementioned legends but if you don’t have that catalyst called ‘exposure’ you will miss the legendary status by a bit.
Club football caters to football fans who know what offside is, World Cup caters to the latter and also football ‘fans’ who have no idea what offside is
Nothing much except the World Cup can propel a player to Legendary status.
Look at David Beckham, to the masses, he’s good. to real football fans, he’s average. Because of sheer exposure alone, it has brought him from being just average to good.
Messi needs exposure to bring him from damn good to legendary and only the World Cup can do that.
Back to the topic, yes, this might just be one of the best goals so far in the 06/07 football season.
- Posted by Five TimesI agree he needs to do it at the World Cup if he’s going to be regarded as a Pele or a Maradona. I still can’t believe he was left on the bench throughout the defeat against Germany in the World Cup. That match was there for the taking by Argentina and Messi could have created havoc against that big, slow defence.
- Posted by KevReading Spanish papers today was reminded of what Pep Guardiola said about Messi: “The only player I’ve ever seen who runs faster with the ball at his feet than without it.” Certainly haven’t seen anything as good as that in Germany this season. And Simon, take your point about the Ronaldo goal against Compostela but there were a few special ones from Rivaldo as well.
- Posted by Kevin FylanBack on topic, how about Diego’s goal for Werder Bremen at the weekend for goal of the season?
- Posted by Rafahttp://youtube.com/watch?v=0W2×36PnSHk