We spend a lot of time talking about Lionel Messi here – he was after all recently awarded the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or by the coaches, captains and journalists of the world – but there are a lot of other great players out there doing a lot of great things.
Yesterday’s Copa del Rey match between Barcelona and Real Madrid demonstrated just how much other talent there is out there.
Now Messi did get the talent show going himself yesterday when he went on one of his trademark field-length runs and slipped the ball between two desperate Madrid defenders for a Pedro finish. The run and the inch-perfect ball were things of genius.
But as good as that Messi play was, the Argentine was upstaged within minutes when Barca full-back Dani Alves was in the right place at the right time on a corner-kick and lined-up a one-time laser with the laces of his right boot that found that small target where the top of the far post meets the crossbar. A dream goal by perhaps the best right-back in football.
Real Madrid looked to be out of the Cup after those two goals but I guess their players didn’t think so, playing a high-pressure game that saw Cristiano Ronaldo blow past what looked like a pensioner in Carles Puyol, glide past a shocked Barca keeper in Pinto and slide the ball into the open net. It was as if Ronaldo and co had suddenly found a new super-human level.
Puyol was made to look old and slow one more time when fresh substitute Karim Benzema dinked the ball over his head and hammered home the tying goal. A real striker’s goal.
Four different players in on four fantastic goals in a Barcelona-Madrid Clasico that was indeed a classic.
So much has been said about him already that you’d think that everything’s been said but Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola had to be expecting a question about his hat-trick hero after the Malaga win. And Pep did not disappoint, coming up with a relatively new observation about Leo Messi: that one of his greatest traits is his consistency. Yep. Sounds boring but that’s what Pep really likes about the Best Player in the World.
Today Lionel Messi scored three times to lead Barcelona to a 4-1 over Malaga, giving him his sixth three-goal game of the season.
Messi scored in the 33rd minute with a rare header and then came up with classic runs and finishes in the 51st and 81st minutes to give him 22 goals on the year.
Messi was briefly atop the > La Liga scoring chart but hours later Cristiano Ronaldo scored 2 penalty-kicks to give him 23 goals on the year and top spot in the scoring race.
Manchester United’s legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson certainly thinks so.
After Messi was named the Best Player in the World for the third consecutive year at today’s 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or ceremony, SAF said that the Barcelona superstar could play with the all-time greats of the game and vice-a-versa:
“Critics have always questioned whether players like Pele from the 50s could play today. The answer to that is great players would play in any generation. Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff because they are all great players. Lionel Messi without question fits into that category.”
Barca teammate, Xavi Hernandez – who was on the Ballon d’Or short-list for the second consecutive year and in attendance in Zurich – took the praise to an even higher level, saying “He’s still young, only 24, and I think he’s going to break all the records that exist in this sport. He’s going to be one of the best footballers in the history of the sport.”
