Football News

Nicky B (Jamaica)

Posted on 11/21/2011 at 9:46 AM 0 Abs thats rubbish no need to go back to the number 19.

Abs (United States)

Posted on 11/20/2011 at 8:03 PM 0 Messi should go back to number 19, it suites him more !!

Jack! (United States)

Posted on 11/19/2011 at 8:34 PM 0 When you wear the #10, that's all that matters. That how you get compared.

Shinobushinobu (Singapore)

Posted on 11/19/2011 at 12:53 PM 0 @El Principe: Maradona is the best for no 10 role. Messi is the best in "false" no 10 role. Messi's position is not exactly like Maradona. He was winger and then central FW. Maradona never scored as much as Messi, it's not his main job. Finishing ability, Messi is better. Passing ability, Maradona is better. It suits their roles. Maradona was better in set-piece and perhaps Messi wouldn't be able to match him in his entire career. But, in Messi, we can hope for creating and finishing. He always leads the no of assists and goals in La Liga. We can't really compare Messi vs Maradona. Their job/position are not the same.

palu (India)

Posted on 11/18/2011 at 12:58 PM 0 I wish messi for the top of the ever goal scorers in argentina and i am should he is move to the 4th place until the end of world cup qualification

haman (Bahrain)

Posted on 11/18/2011 at 6:06 AM 1 @ el principe, Excuse me, when you talk about passing there is no comparison with Juan Roman Riquelme. Let Diego alone, he has his own planet.

el principe (United States)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 10:16 PM 0 Being a Maradona huge fan as a player in 1986-1990 something, I know exactly how he played especially now there is youtube that shows his greatness. When Messi just got started, he was still a wonderkid mentored by Ronaldinho. Messi's dribbling was close to Maradona's (the evidence was the match vs. Getafe in that famous match). However his passing and set pieces were still nowhere near Maradona's. However that has changed. In the last 3 years or so, Messi's passing has been the best in the world. I guarantee you there is no one in the world now who's a better passer than Messi. Not Angel Di Maria who's the assist leader of La Liga, nor Mesut Ozil, nor Juan Roman Riquelme, nor Xavi/Iniesta either. Messi's passing is just close to perfection... this year he's got even better at passing. I remember in a la liga match (forgot against who) earlier this season, he passed the ball to a winger, I think it was to Abidal. I thought it would be too strong and the ball was going out, but somehow the ball almost stopped when it was close to reaching the line and Abidal was able to send a cross. I think his passing is almost equal to Maradona. Why almost equal? Because there is no one ever born on earth have better passing ability than Maradona. He's simply the best at passing. Messi might be better at scoring, but passing wise, Maradona was slightly better. I remember Antonio Careca, Maradona's target man at Napoli in their days said, "Maradona knows me so well that when he passes me the ball, the ball is exactly how I want it. That's why I can score a lot." Now about the set pieces. Sabella has praised Messi's FK ability a month ago. He said that Messi's FK is among the best in the world. For me, not really... yes it's improving, but not yet the best. CR7 is better at FK than Messi. Sneijder, Riquelme, and Van Der Vaart are better. That's still the part that Messi needs to improve. That's what separate him from Maradona. The same with corner kick. Riquelme is the best corner takers in the world. Messi's corner is not better than his teammate, Di Maria or Sosa's. Just very very ordinary.

Leandro (United States)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 6:30 PM 1 A lot of duplicate copy/paste comments from past threads showing up.. guys we do read them :)

Dante Pastrana (United States)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 2:19 PM 0 Hey All. I put some future game dates on the previous article/post. I know quite a few of you folks have been asking. I hope you’re all doing great.

waveride (Greece)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 2:09 PM 0 Good point Rune! I agree that we must move as a cohesive unit with great off the ball runs. Anyway gongratulations to our beloved Argentina for the victory over colombia! Can anyone please tell me the upcoming friendly matches?

Rune (Norway)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 12:15 PM 4 I see the future this way: Very little will change. We will continue to produce world class players, but we will not win a WC or CA in a long time. We will win some games and lose some games. We will be very much up and down, we'll not see a stable team for years. We'll stay inconsistant and mediocre until there is a chance for a revolution in AFA. That won't happen until Julio is dead. And who knows what happens when/if Humberto takes over...maybe things won't change at all.... But through all this I will support Argentina like I always have done. With all my heart and my passion. I will continue to celebrate every goal and every victory even if I sometimes hate the coach and dislike some players. Even if a win in a single game doesn't mean a new fresh start and that the future suddenly looks bright, a win will always make me happy to a certain degree. In a way each game is a history itself. Sad, wonderful or ok. A win is a win and it's always nice to win, but having said that the best things is of course to win when playing the beautiful game we were renowned for all across the world. And now, traumatized after 18 years without a major trophy and 5-6 years without a real team... it's hard to stay optimistic, for me at least. This love I have for La Albiceleste has NOTHING at all to do with being positive and believing in my team before each game. NOTHING!!! Sometimes I believe in my team before a game, sometimes (yes,many times) I don't. Not everyone understands this. My 3 year old daughter can say to me: Dad, do you believe that I am able to carry this big stone? If I have a feeling that that stone is too heavy for her to carry,(and I guess that means I am negative) I would still support her and I still love her to death! And I would still be happy if she proved me wrong and proved to be stronger than I thought and did manage to carry that big stone. This is pure logic to me. But all credit to the positive people, and heck even all credit to the naive people. We need positive people and also naive people on board this ship:-) I have lost faith in Sabella, and I sure had faith in him when he got the job. I hope to God that there is a chance that he can re insert that faith I once had in him. But I doubt it. Changing coach...I don't think that would do much good. A new moron would come in and do the job just as good/bad. Bianchi, if he suddenly chose to work with Grondona, would possibly also turn into a moron from the moment he'd get the job. Selecting wrong players and using strange tactics, like all the last 4 morons. Maybe we should look abroad? There are so many things to talk about when it comes to tactic blunders and the lack of a real and up to date game plan, but let me just repeat again ONE thing I have been repeating for 5 years: movement off the ball has almost not been present at all after Pekerman resigned. Basile's team, even back then I said that the movement off the ball wasn't good enough. If a midfielder has the ball, almost every teammate are walking...why is this? We need the team to move as a cohesive unit with great off the ball runs. Like what happened around Riquelme whenever he had the ball in WC 06. Anyway, these are my thought. It's just football, it's not dangerous to disagree. VAMOS ARGENTINA!

Brigie (Trinidad And Tobago)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 12:09 PM 0 Injuries kept Batigol out of the selection .I am happy for Messi but Batigol is the reason I love Argentina and i would be proud if he beats Batigol record but on the other hand I do not want him too because Batigol will always be my favourite player in my heart and still is even though he's retired next to Lucho :D.Love all my Argies but Batigol is special :)

Shinobushinobu (Singapore)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 11:21 AM 0 @Mohd: Dunno, I was convinced that Maradona would never be surpassed.. But now, I really don't know. Messi is mesmerizing and he still has a lot of time. But, diff people have diff thinking and opinion. Diff topic, just read that Messi lost 4kg coz he played for us at 37C. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/84874/spanish-media-say-messi-exhausted-after-match Well, even in Singapore, 33-34 is already very hot, can't imagine to play soccer at 37C! Poor our players..

Mohd (Lebanon)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 6:26 AM 1 @Dante Pastrana: Messi will never be the best player ever. That is reserved to Diego. I am not talking emotions here. But a best player Ever should be able to lead a team when no body can. Diego did that with Arg and Napoli. Messi cannot. Messi may be faster, even has a better close control, or even has better defense splitting passing. But in the history of the game there was only one player who could manipulate the emotions of not only a team, not only a nation, but the whole world. That was Diego. A true leader.

Sups (India)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 4:46 AM 0 batistuta was great, but off late messi doesnt have much support ...very few people are creating for him, rather he creating many for others. I dont care whether he scroes 30+ goals of not, if he keeps his contribution in teams winning...great. he already has 20 assists...whos is Argentina's highest assist maker? just asking ..i dont know.

Jack! (United States)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 4:15 AM 0 He will not catch Bati. He would still need 37 more goals to catch him. You want a staggering figure? By the time the qualifiers end Messi would surpass Bati in amount of games played for Argentina. That is how special Bati was.

Chainsaw (Iran)

Posted on 11/17/2011 at 1:10 AM 0 I believe he will go up to the second spot. Whether or not he will take over Batistuta we yet have to wait and see.

Dante Pastrana (United States)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 10:31 PM 1 I didn’t mean now. I meant when he acquires the world cup title in 2014 or 2018 he will be the best player EVER. Especially when he retires. He’ll be the biggest of them all :o) Right now He’s surely the best and way above Cristiana Ronaldo #2. If no serious injuries he’ll out do them all. Creme de la creme this Messi”ah”

Sups (India)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 10:18 PM 1 I dont need a world cup tag to confirm him as the best player of the world now. @Dante Pastrana..i will be happy if he can manitain his fitness and performence like Zanetti, hell yeah even i want him to continue the longest possible. having said that even i want messi to lift the world cup.

Dante Pastrana (United States)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 4:24 PM 2 @SUPS. 8 years would hold true if you were talking about a regular player. L. Messi is good til 35 years of age. As Jack said, “he’ll age like wine” He is totally right! All he needs is a world cup title and he will become the best of the best by the time he’s finished. God Bless Leo and keep him injury free. Vamo Vamo Pulga ATomica!

Paco (Canada)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:57 PM 0 Top ten? Awesome! Not even the most loved player is there! (formerly Tevez) And if you count assists, i'm sure Messi is placed even higher than that. Lets not forget that he is still rather young compare to the next couple players that are above him in the chart too! (Aside from Mario Kempes who was 24 when last time he scored. The others i can't all confirm how old they were when they last scored, but i assume they were around 30+) We are in for a nice ride my friends.

haman (Bahrain)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:44 PM 0 Only if he had world class mates at his team, he'd do wonders. Imagine the future world class players around Messi, "Aguero, Higuain, Pastore, DiMaria, Lamela" All are top players to be and almost in one generation adding Lamela… But all we want is a promising world class defenders and defensive midfielders… Could we say: "Fede Fernandez, Otamendi, Pezella, Pillud, Nervo, Canteros, Banega if stays fit and consistent. Add our Goalies, Romero, Andrada. All those names indicate for a bright future, it will certainly happen if we have a world class manager!!!

Jack! (United States)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:41 PM 2 I think he would be closer to 30 goals right now if Roman was playing right now.

Jack! (United States)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:39 PM 2 Messi role will change as he gets older. He can adapt to a lot of attacking roles. When he gets older, I believe he will sit in the middle of the pitch and dish out assists. He has the vision for it, he will age like wine.

Sups (India)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:30 PM 0 10 years is too much 8 years max

Dante Pastrana (United States)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:22 PM 1 I believe he will reach Hernan Crespo sooner rather than later and will be the #1 all time scorer for the NT :o) He still has like 10 years of game in him.

Sups (India)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:20 PM 0 johnny....yes i heard the messi chants..during the costa rica match in copa.....in the gallery. hopefully messi will win the hearts

Sups (India)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:15 PM 0 Qatar ???? That is in Asia...and he scored vs Brazil :)

Johnny (Thailand)

Posted on 11/16/2011 at 1:12 PM 5 The great Messi. For what it's worth I have a little story. As most Mundo posters know Messi has had a difficult time earning the love and admiration of many argentines. I would say four years ago he was very much disliked by many football fans in Argentina. The majority ? I don't know, but a lot. We all know the reasons. My best friend in Buenos Aires is a porteno, lifelong Boca fan and avid follower of the NT. He very much disliked Messi a few years ago, to the point where we wouldn't discuss Messi. He knew how I felt. Then, about a year ago, and certainly during and after the WC, his periodic Messi bashing stopped. Yesterday during the match against Colombia he texted me this, "Where would the National team be without Messi ?" So, things have changed quite a bit for many past Messi bashers in Argentina. Not that some don't remain, and even those who have come to their senses may at times be ready to be critical once again. But, given that they aren't completely blind, many have had to acknowledge that the NT is led by Messi, the greatest player in the world.