This World Cup golden boot race is so funny man! Odegaard pushing Haaland, Olise and Dembele pushing Mbappe, Messi pushing himself, and Ronaldo pushing 42!
😭😭😭😭
You cannot mark Lionel Messi better than how Austria marked him today. One of the best anti-Messi defensive setups in a while. They blocked passing lanes to him, when the ball was at his feet they immediately closed him down and shutdown his nearest passing options. The few times they lost tiny concentration, he punished them.
One thing Messi fans do I don’t like is trying to make everyone agree Messi is the best, that’s for you stick with it. Over here, there’s nobody born of Man better than Ronaldo or Greater than him.
He’s the most complete player i have watched, also the most dominant player, Both Legs accuracy, Headers, Speed, Dribbling, there’s nothing you can think of in Football that he doesn’t excel in, he’s moved from a winger to a Striker, moved different leagues too. He had a career ending injury and yet he adjusted his game to continue to dominate. Do you think anyone could have done that??? You can divide his career into two and he’s still the Greatest, he’s the most Clutch player ever, he’s talk and do. Do you know what it takes to do that?
Also he’s the most influential person ever in football history, you can’t measure that with goals or with assist or with trophies, and that is what Greatness means, he’s inspired millions of generation of players, from Africa to all the corners of the World, even beyond Football. He’s the just the Greatest Player, he’s Arguably the greatest Sportman ever, he has an Athletic ceiling only few will ever touch. That’s why he’s the Greatest.
Don’t argue with me, there’s nobody born of Man greater than Cristiano Ronaldo.
🚨🗣️ 𝗡𝗘𝗪: BBC journalist Tim Vickery about Lionel Messi:
"I don't want the carnaval to end. This little man has been part of my life for 21 and a half years. The standout moment in my career was when I saw him as a 17 year old at the South American U20's."
"Maradona said that Messi can dribble while watching TV while switching channels too. The ball is part of him. But he can also see the space, he could already see that at 17. And here we are, 21 and a half years later."
— BBC
If they tell you Messi will become the World Cup’s highest goal scorer in 2010, you will argue it just doesn’t make sense. At that time, it genuinely looked like the tournament was not built for him, Whatever he does, it simply just doesn’t work. Tight marking, chaos in Argentina’s structure, and a version of Messi that just seems lost with tournament.
But from 2014 onwards, it started to feel like something shifted.
Gradually, like the tournament itself began to open up to him. He stopped being just a creator stuck between lines and became the central force Argentina built everything around. The burden got heavier, but so did his influence. Every World Cup cycle after that felt less like Messi trying to fit into the tournament, and more like the tournament adapting to his presence.
2014 was the first real signal. Even without the trophy, he carried Argentina to the final almost by sheer gravity. By 2018, even in a chaotic team environment, he was still producing moments that kept them alive. Then 2022 arrived, and it wasn’t just brilliance anymore, it was inevitability. The goals, the assists, the leadership, the control of entire matches… it felt like every narrative thread was being pulled toward one conclusion. Messi Time.
Because when you zoom out, it doesn’t just look like he adapted to the World Cup, it starts to feel like the World Cup adapted to him. The spaces appear when he needs them. The moments slow down when he demands control. Even in games where Argentina struggle, there’s always that one passage where he flips the entire rhythm of the match.
From he might struggle here in 2010…
to he’s deciding this entire tournament by 2022…
It’s one of the most extreme evolutions any player has had on this stage.
Mexico will disgrace Messi. Nah, awful display. Lewandowski can finish the job. Nah, Poland are washed. Australia then! Darn, narrow escape! Netherlands, please. 🙏 They can’t even play penalties. Croatia, let's go! Nah, we are in trouble! Mbappe, help!
“FIFA helped Messi, then”
@thegood_french@israel_ajoje I won’t sugarcoat things just to appear civil. You argue like a person bereft of football knowledge. Have actually wasted my time.
@Foskolo@thegood_french@israel_ajoje It’s like they lose their cognitive abilities when they argue. It’s always about conjectures, fifa helps Messi rigged World Cup, aura or influence or some bullshits. This guy is surely educated look at the rubbish he is spewing in defense of Ronaldo
@thegood_french@israel_ajoje You watch Messi with your eyes create chances, score goals and influence games and you think it was a system that helped him do that. You guys are so brain dead and insane. It’s like you all lose your intellectual capacity when it’s about Messi Ronaldo