His childhood was a spent in extreme poverty at Villa Fiorito, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. After starting out as a relatively unknown at Manchester United, Ronaldo forced Sir Alex Ferguson to give him a free role and Ferguson is a manager who has always put the team ahead of a player. the debate over which player is the greatest of all time was dominated by Pele and Diego Maradona. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. When you consider Messi has had to contend with a standard of defending that Maradona was never consistently faced with, then, you probably have to give this one to the current Barcelona captain, whose consistency levels over the course of his career are nothing short of freakish., No debate to be had here, really. In 2011, he scored 121 goals in all competitions but was accused of deliberately losing matches because he did not want to be chosen as goalkeeper Sergio Romero's backup. Argentina has been lucky to have had two players like Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi to grace its national team. He may not have won a bucket load of trophies during his club or international career. Maradona's heir-apparent, Messi has yet to hit the levels of adulation in his homeland due to the fact he has yet to significantly influence Argentina's fortunes on the world stage and impose his will on the team the way his predecessor did. (Photo by Mike King/Allsport/Getty Images). Along the way, he scored his wonder goal against England Argentinas arch rivals because of The Falklands War. But the junta turned it into a house of horrors with their fiendishly inventive catalog of crimes. The discussion has been held many times before, and will no doubt be raised on many more occasions in the future, but the loss of the masterful Argentina forward aged just 60 has only intensified his claim to the throne. Four years later, they made a tame exit. Maradonas struggles had been immense. With seven Ballon d'Or titles and a world record for the most goals scored in a calendar year, there's good reason to think that Messi has surpassed Maradona overall, but the little genius seems destined to forever be negatively compared to his compatriot at the World Cup. In 142 appearances for Argentina, Messi has scored 71 goals as against Maradonas who operated from a deeper position 34 in 91 international matches. In my native Argentina Maradona is still worshiped. From Carles Puyol to Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar (albeit briefly) and Luis Suarez Messi always had world-class players aplenty by his side. The pair of left-footed icons are among the greatest sports stars to ever live, boasting almost unmatched records. Football has been around for more than a century but only a handful of players have been able to achieve legendary status while transcending through different generations of fans. After 12 years playing in his homeland and Colombia, his move to Real transformed them into a European super power. Real Madrid planning move for Antonio Silva? A statement from The International Football Association Board said: A tackle from behind which endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as serious foul play. Fifa added: Acts of serious foul play are punishable by a red card. Life became a lot easier for attacking players. Asked to name the best player of his lifetime, Jos Mourinho said, "Ronaldo, El Fenomeno. Summary time. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Experts Urge Consumers To Start Saving Now, Turn Your Home Equity Into Cash Before a Recession, Grow Your Money Faster With These Savings Accounts. How much money does Messi make a year at Barcelona? Portugal are a relatively mediocre team in comparison with giants like France, Germany, and Spain, but that did not prevent Ronaldo from leading the national team to Euro glory in 2016. Messi was born on the 4th of August 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. "It's like playing soccer with Messi.". He's on track to finish as the top scorer in Spain for a seventh season, and is La Liga's all time leading goalscorer., ?#Messi is now the outright top scorer in #LaLigaSantander! A career that started with Argentinos Juniors in 1976 quickly transformed into a visual treat for spectators around the world. WebNaturally, Maradona is of the view that he was superior, while Pele told Goal in 2017: "I always say to him: Maradona, you can be level with Pele when you have scored more The other Brazilian to make it to the top of the all-time greats list, Ronaldo at his peak was a goalscoring machine but with the talented touch of a boy who had grown up playing on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. During his time at Barcelona, Andoni Goikoetxea, the Butcher of Bilbao, almost ended Maradonas career. The midfield maestro - who died in June - won the Argentine league in 1981 with Boca Juniors before moving to Barcelona. Buy your Diego Maradona t-shirt from the GMS Shop. Hisstrike rate does fall some wayshort of his own stupendous standards, and he has never scored at a World Cup outside of the group stage despite competing at four of them.. A winner of three World Cups the first in 1958 when he scored six goals in four games aged just 17 his individual skill and eye for goal was unrivalled but he also benefited from playing in some of the best international sides in history. Maradona, on the other hand, had three league titles and a Uefa Cup. The most important American weapon is not the Pentagon. WebMessi had to play with players who are more professional, competitive and the game is now much more complex than when maradona played. The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. he'll exclaim over some or other outrage or absurdity Moreno Ocampo is known as a judicious and meticulous compiler of material facts. It remains the first and only permanent international body granted jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity. It's no surprise that Messi has been so often compared to Maradona seeing as they're both left-footed, diminutive Argentinean males considered by many to be the standout player of their generation. This story originally appeared Messi doesnt need to win the World Cup to be the best player in the world, Maradona told reporters six years ago. So you conduct the investigation. He is a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award and two national journalism awards from Argentina. In other words, we can indeed find out the winner of 2014 Messi vs 1986 Maradona as far as the data is concerned, taking what we consider to be some of the most important metrics that they've analysed and comparing the numbers to see what happens. Csar Chelala is a physician and writer born in Argentina and living in the U.S. Marvin Gaskins is a natural at what he does. Along with Brazilian legend Pele, Maradona is considered as the greatest footballer ever. On the pitch, Maradona hardly had any protection from match officials. Apart from the Olympic success in 2008, Messi has had little joy while wearing the national team colours. Messis career is far more decorated than his deceased compatriot. Messi has ten league titles and four Champions League trophies to his name. ", "All the scenes in the court are absolutely verbatim," Moreno Ocampo says. Messi is the first Argentine to captain the side to glory since Maradona Credit: AFP. FCRA licence of CPR suspended: What is FCRA, why licence matters, Stage set for Tripura poll results as BJP claims pole position, Bill Gates delivers the fifth Ramnath Goenka Lecture, Arbaaz Khan says equation with stepmom Helen developed over time: 'It was difficult for my mom but', Exclusive | Shahid Kapoor says Jersey failure broke his heart: 'The universe was not kind', 'Tom was the first one to lose his job': IAS officer shares old clip from Tom and Jerry that forecasts use of AI, 'Far-fetched idea' becomes reality: Story of proud dads to a girl and a boy melts hearts online. A true porteo (port-city person), the nickname given to Buenos Aires denizens, Moreno Ocampo is zealous about soccer and literature. Lionel Messi might be an Argentine but he has been involved with Spanish football throughout his career. His scoring form with PSG has suffered slightly, with only 23 in 53 games but he has Ligue 1 and French Cup-winning medals to go with it. Even though Messi has achieved a lot in his career, he has undoubtedly been helped by an excellent squad. From the mid-90s and especially since the turn of the century, football started to open its heart and hearth to attackers. "Argentina 1985" recounts the actual testimony of a terrified pregnant woman who spontaneously gave birth after being tossed in the back of a police car. I saw awful things I never cried. While the club career was able to provide a reasonable amount of success with Italian Serie A and Copa del Rey titles to his credit, Maradona was able to influence much more at international level. Watch: First trailer for new series of Race Across The World, EastEnders' Balvinder Sopal: 'There's no love between Suki and Nish', Sky Sports launches dedicated UHD channel for Formula 1. 17 Is Celtic Irish or Scottish? Messi. First, Messi plays in better era of football, in terms of how advanced it is and he is consistent for last 14 years. He is also a prolific s Saudi sports strategy challenges global sports governors and activists alike, Holocaust recognition and the fight against antisemitism, Mass protests continue into the night in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Netanyahu compares Tel Aviv protesters to settlers who set fire to Huwara, As protests sweep nation, police use aggressive means to clear Tel Aviv rally, Israel should wipe out Palestinian town of Huwara, says senior minister Smotrich. For standing goals that he has scored throughout his career, Messi has been a disappointment at international level. Unlike Frank Rijkaard before him, Guardiola decided to use Messi as the central figure in the team with everything revolving around the Argentine. 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