Lionel Messi: Barcelona Star Is Miles Away from Being the Greatest Ever Player
March 9, 2012
Lionel Messi, ever since he burst into the football scene, has been nothing less than mesmerizing.
A three-time recipient of the FIFA World Footballer of the Year Award, three-time winner of the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona, five-time winner of La Liga and countless other honors, Messi has established himself as one of the greatest football players to have ever graced this beautiful game.
So profound has been his influence that, a recent poll on Bleacher Report even showed him to have garnered the most number of votes in a battle for supremacy in the football world, ahead of illustrious greats like Pele and Diego Maradona.
This is where I intend to draw the line.
Sure, Lionel Messi is a phenomenal player in his own right. But, the greatest ever?
I think we are getting too far ahead of ourselves.
The capricious nature of football fans appals me. In the past decade alone, I have heard this phrase—the greatest footballer ever—thrown around quite a bit.
From Zinedine Zidane to Ronaldinho, there have been a number of players to have been described as the best ever, and now this “title” is bestowed upon Lionel Messi.
To prove my point, let’s pick Zinedine Zidane, the French footballing maestro.
Like Messi, Zidane has also been in three Champions League finals, twice with Juventus and once with Real Madrid. He actually helped the latter win through a superb volley in the final against Bayer Leverkusen.
Similarly, like Messi, he also won the FIFA World Player of the Year three times. And, might I add, deservedly so.
Whether Wesley Sneijder should’ve won after winning the Champions League with Inter and being instrumental in Holland’s run up to the final in 2010 is anyone’s guess work.
For all the teams that Zidane played with, he was instrumental, akin to Lionel Messi. He might not have the “statistics”, but he was the chief playmaker and dumbfounded opponents and dazzled fans.
So far, we can already notice that Zidane accomplished all that Lionel Messi has.
However, what differentiates him from Messi is that he was equally critical to the French national team and established himself as a key component to it, which Lionel Messi has yet to do for Argentina.
Zidane led France to the pinnacle of football glory in 1998 by scoring two goals in the final and put the trophy beyond Brazil’s reach.
Two years later, he led France to another major trophy: Euro 2000. For his performances, he was also bestowed with the Best Player of the Tournament title.
Without Zidane, France faltered in the 2002 World Cup.
He announced his retirement in 2004, only to return and prove inspirational to guide France to the finals of the World Cup in 2006. There, again, he won the Best Player of the Tournament.
Lionel Messi has proven his prowess only at club level, with phenomenal compatriots such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Dani Alves and a throng of world-class individuals located in every position.
Zinedine Zidane has accomplished such feats with a variety of clubs and with France.
And he is only one of the multitudes of other players from the annals of footballing history whom we seem to have cast aside.
Franz Beckenbauer—three time Champions League Winner, World Cup Winner, UEFA Euro Winner.
Johann Cruyff. Michel Platini. Ronaldo. Alfred Di Stefano.
Not to mention Pele and Maradona.The list is endless.
I think it is a bit premature to bestow such an honor on Messi so hastily. Best Player Currently? Yes. Best Ever? A Resounding No.
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