‘Little genius’ Messi one step from undisputed greatness
PHOTO | JEWEL SAMAD Argentina's forward and captain Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring during the 2014 Fifa World Cup Group F football match between Nigeria and Argentina at the Beira-Rio Stadium in Porto Alegre on June 25, 2014. Argentina face Germany in the World Cup final on July 13, 2014.
What you need to know:
- For all the breath-taking goals and teeming towers of silverware he has accumulated with Barcelona, it is in the World Cup final that the true greats confirm their legacies.
- Maradona was almost marked out of the 1986 final by West Germany, only to create the winning goal for Jorge Burruchaga, but while he had already dominated the tournament, Messi needs a signature display.
RIO DE JANEIRO
Argentina’s Lionel Messi will never have a better opportunity to prove he is one of the greatest players of all time than in Sunday night’s World Cup final against Germany.
For all the breath-taking goals and teeming towers of silverware he has accumulated with Barcelona, it is in the World Cup final that the true greats confirm their legacies.
From a 17-year-old Pele in 1958 to Andres Iniesta in 2010, via Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldo, football’s biggest personalities have bent the sport’s biggest occasion to their will.
Messi’s record-breaking brilliance over the last six seasons at Camp Nou cannot be understated, but until he wins the World Cup, he will never fully stand the comparisons.
In the words of Roberto Rivellino, one of the stars of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning side: “If Argentina win, he’ll be up there with Pele and Maradona, no doubt.”
Maradona, in particular, was defined by his World Cup performances and at 27, Messi could not ask for a more perfect chance to emulate his predecessor in the sky-blue and white number 10 shirt.
Maradona was almost marked out of the 1986 final by West Germany, only to create the winning goal for Jorge Burruchaga, but while he had already dominated the tournament, Messi needs a signature display.
Whereas Maradona scored decisive braces against England and Belgium in the knockout phase — each featuring a memorable solo goal — Messi has not added to the four goals he scored in the first round. And while he remains Argentina’s most important player, his performances have waned.
Decisive against Switzerland in the last 16, where he created Angel di Maria’s extra-time winner, he showed flashes of brilliance against Belgium, but was a peripheral figure in the semi-final against the Netherlands.
