New Delhi: Kolkata stood still on Friday night when Lionel Messi weaved his magic in India for the first time. The little magician's spell of magic in front of a jam-packed stadium left everyone in attendance spellbound.
Messi time and time again has been drawn into the debate whether he is better than football legends like Pele and Diego Maradona. Messi is undoubtedly on his way up on ladder of greatness but can only stand alongside Pele and Diego Maradona when he shines at the World Cup and leads his country to the ultimate glory.
Pele rattled in more than 1000 goals during a glorious career that included two World Cup victories with sparkling Brazil sides. Maradona brought to Argentina the ultimate football prize almost single-handedly in 1986 but his legendary status has of late been tainted by drug test failures and other off-field controversies.
His legendary status at Barcelona is established and for sure compared to the current stars, he is a cut above, with Cristiano Ronaldo a distant second. He has already won five La Ligas, one Copa del Rey and three Champions League with Barcelona and an Olympic gold medal with Argentina.
In the last few months, however, the Messi debate has intensified and some have claimed that not only is he better than Maradona, but also Pele, Johan Cruyff and Alfredo Di Stefano. Cruyff, Di Stefano, Maradona, Pele and now Messi are great players of their time but to compare them is undoubtedly a flawed task.
Yes, if you compare the little magician with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Wayne Rooney and Wesley Sneijder, then for sure no one is even near this man. It won't be wrong to say that "there is Messi, then daylight and then others." And one of the biggest reason why Cristiano Ronaldo is less frequently compared with the legends mentioned above is Messi's ability to excel on the highest stage. He will never get overawed by the magnitude of the occasion.
There will be only few people who can match Messi's pace while he has the ball at his feet. He can just go in and out of defenders and score a goal in the blink of an eye. Messi has an advantage over Ronaldo in tighter areas where Ronaldo usually fails to deliver. At times, it appears that ball is stuck to Messi's feat and more often than not the little magician gets the better of the defenders.
One of the biggest question which repeatedly comes to haunt Messi is why he does not play as good for Argentina as he plays for Barcelona. And for sure, Messi needs to win Argentina the next World Cup in Brazil to stop fingers being pointed at his national jersey.
But Messi's achievements so far seal him as one of the greatest footballers of our generation, an out-and-out wizard of the game. Don't forget that Messi is just 24, with at least ten best years of football left in him. And the way he is playing, Messi will surely put his hands around one of the two World Cups in that period.
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