🅾️🅾️ Wayne Rooney: On Lionel Messi performance against Austria:
“I’ll say this now, what we’re witnessing right now is just completely mental. I’ve played at the absolute highest level, I know what the physical toll of this game is, and Messi scoring twice today to break the all-time World Cup goal record? It’s just insane.
How are we all sitting here acting like this is normal? The man is 39 years old. At 39, most lads are sitting on a beach, or struggling to get out of bed for a Sunday league kickabout, let alone dominating the biggest tournament on Earth. It defies logic.
He’s out there gliding past players, reading the game three steps ahead of everyone else, and finishing like he’s still in his mid-twenties.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: anyone who still doubts Lionel Messi as the greatest to ever play the game simply is not mentally OK. It’s that simple.
There’s no footballing argument left to have. Even if your brain has been completely disconnected, your eyes alone just sitting there watching what he is doing on that pitch should tell you absolutely everything you need to know. You don't need a tactical breakdown. You just need to look at the screen. To do what he’s done throughout his career was incredible, but to reach the pinnacle of the World Cup record books at 39?
We will never, ever see anything like this again. We just need to stop trying to analyze it and appreciate that we're looking at the absolute best to ever lace up a pair of boots”
🚨🎙️ ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIĆ ON LIONEL MESSI'S INFLUENCE ON ARGENTINA AFTER THEIR WIN OVER AUSTRIA:
“I'm obsessed with watching Messi.
Not because he's my friend.
Not because of nostalgia.
Because after all these years, I'm still trying to understand how one player can control a football match without touching the ball every minute.
I watched Argentina today and the first thing I noticed wasn't the scoreline.
It was the way Austria reacted whenever Messi moved.
One step to the left, defenders follow.
One drop into midfield, the entire shape changes.
One glance over his shoulder panic.
That's not football.
That's psychological warfare.
And that's why I laugh when people reduce him to goals and assists.
They don't understand what they're watching.
Messi isn't just Argentina's best player.
He's Argentina's system.
He's their confidence.
He's their belief.
He's the reason every teammate walks onto the pitch thinking the impossible is possible.
People ask me about the GOAT debate.
What debate?
Seriously.
What debate?
For me, there isn't one.
The debate exists because television needs content and social media needs arguments.
When I watch football, I don't see a debate.
I see Messi.
Then I see everybody else.
That doesn't mean other legends weren't incredible.
It means I've never seen another player influence a match, a team and an entire generation of football the way Messi has.
And today was another reminder.
He didn't need a hat-trick.
He didn't need to score from 40 yards.
He just needed to be Lionel Messi.
And suddenly Argentina looked like a completely different team.
That's greatness.
Not when everything depends on you.
When everybody becomes better because you're there.
I've played against great players.
I've played with great players.
But Messi is the only player I've ever watched and genuinely thought:
'This isn't normal.'
The scary thing?
Opponents know exactly what he's going to do.
And they still can't stop it.
That's why I don't waste my time with comparisons anymore.
Some players become legends.
Some players become icons.
Messi became a category of his own.
And after today's performance, if you're still asking me who the greatest footballer of all time is...
You're asking the wrong question.
The right question is:
Will football ever produce another one like him?”
Dear fellow Americans,
1. Find a player on any of these teams
2. Find what club they play for and the league
3. Support them vigorously
4. Have this feeling year round, every year instead of every 4
Alternately, pick an 🇺🇸 player and just follow them
Either way, it’s awesome
The World Cup rules because at literally any time of the day if my wife asks me to do something I can just be like “I can’t I’m watching Timbuktu vs. Wakanda and it’s nil nil in stoppage time.”
Okay, I'm gonna be honest.
This gay club looks fabulous.
They've got everything. Sweaty men wrestling, guys on motorcycles in leather jackets, gold everywhere, and the Village People performing.
“Oh Balogun is just playing for the U.S. because he couldn’t make the England squad”…Folks, that is the entire promise of our nation.
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
And then we’ll beat your ass with them.