He was a major factor behind Argentinas success in the 1986 World Cup with one of the two goals in the knockout stages against England famously etching itself into history as the Hand of God. Diego Maradona's death at the age of 60 has reignited the debate. Messi is known for his speed and agility, while He wrote for leading newspapers all over the world and for the main medical journals, among them The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Japan Times, The China Daily, The Moscow Times, The International Herald Tribune, Le Monde Diplomatique, Harvard International Review, The Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, and The British Medical Journal. Yet, the Portuguese has been able to achieve international stardom and some incredible records. Maradona won the Golden Ball for the player of the tournament at the 1986 World Cup. Messi has won six Ballon dOr laurels to Maradonas none, for Fifa launched the award in 1991. ? pic.twitter.com/mrKxIJ9Ilh, Star-studded team-mates or not, that's preposterous., One of the biggest criticisms levelled at Messi is that 'he's never done it for Argentina.' The tension is rising and the spotlight is blinding as Messi feels the pressure to nail his fifth and surely last World Cup campaign in the way that Maradona achieved back in 1986. On the international stage, both now have a World Cup winners medal, almost four decades apart. Maradona was a by-product of poverty and ferment. If VAR was available, it might have ruled out his 'header' to open the scoring in Argentina's 2-1 win, but that came only after he'd laid waste to the entire England midfield with his signature close control and low centre of gravity. As I said before: Maradona was a phenomenon in his own time but I doubt he'd have the mentality to play in the current era and make the lifestyle s Supremely effective and hugely prolific at Ajax, where he won three European Cups, eight league titles and, individually, three Ballons d'Or. Standing at just 5 ft 5 in, it would have been easy to forgive Maradona if he had not been successful in his playing days. Maradona's heir-apparent, Messi has yet to hit the levels of adulation in his homeland due to the fact he has yet to significantly influence Argentina's fortunes on the world stage and impose his will on the team the way his predecessor did. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. The claim was made by former teammate Javier Mascherano who said: "If you ask me if Messi hates Romero, then yes, he does.". Messi scored twice in the 3-3 final draw with France and netted in the Csar Chelala is a physician and writer born in Argentina and living in the U.S. But the question remains: who is faster, Messi or Maradona? While Ronaldo currently has more goals overall, Messi has the edge in the scoring department, with a higher season average (37.9 to 35), having hit a high of 73 goals in 2011-12, though his average dropped after a disappointing maiden campaign at PSG in 2021-22. Who is the best player in Copa America history? Now, we are in a situation where players can pick up yellow cards for a single bad tackle and receive straight red cards for tackles which were commonly inflicted on Maradona. The issue is, who is today supporting a mob rebellion against the Congress?". Messi's achievements are without parallel in world football and it is not even his debut season: he became the first player to score 100 or more goals in a single campaign when Barca beat Real Madrid 4-1 last month. Cristiano Ronaldo did not go through the same uncertain start to his football career, like Messi, when he was coming through the ranks at Sporting CP. The fact of the matter is, however, that he wasn't, and he didn't. I lost a great friend: Pele leads tributes as the world mourns Diego Maradonas death, The sainthood and fall from grace of Napolis Argentine deity. Italy was the worlds football capital then, with Serie A boasting of a big chunk of world stars Michel Platini, Zico, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard et al. Johan Cruyffs stint as Barcelona manager laid the foundation for a positive change. So it was a lot of fun, our first meeting, because I was wanting to ask him questions about the trial and he was the one who was interrogating me. "A hat trick," he says. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Maradona on the other hand? Because without my professional protection, the movie invaded me.". In 1998, before the World Cup in France, Fifa cracked down on tackles from behind and made it a serious offence. #ESPNFC Subscribe to ESPN FC Messi. First, Messi plays in better era of football, in terms of how advanced it is and he is consistent for last 14 years. He is also a prolific s Argentina has been lucky to have had two players like Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi to grace its national team. That's one reason why he was chosen to help create the International Criminal Court at The Hague and spent nine years as its chief prosecutor, then went on to teach at Stanford, Harvard and for the past three years at at USC. "Borges is a genius," says Moreno Ocampo, adding an expletive, who served as legal counselor to another Argentine [expletive] genius, Diego Maradona, the football superestrella. These days Moreno Ocampo is exploring international justice not in the courtroom but in the USC classroom, where he often collaborates with colleague Ted Braun, a filmmaker whose "Darfur Now" prominently features Moreno Ocampo in his ICC role. "A hat trick," he says. But statistics can be misleading. He had to play through injuries more often than not, but there were no complaints from the little Argentine, who wheezed past his opponents as if they were invisible. He has also been named the best player in the world by France's L'Equipe magazine on three occasions and Pel once. Lionel Messi might be an Argentine but he has been involved with Spanish football throughout his career. Because of his discipline and consistency, Messi has stayed at the top for close to a decade-and-a-half, compared to Maradonas just six to seven prime years in top-flight football. It seems almost every factor we consider has a caveat; Maradona might have been superior on the ball, but was less decorated;Messi scored more goals and won more trophies, but that could be down to his superior team-mates. Unsurprisingly, a person of such calibre has only gone through an uptrend throughout his career. There's more to his game, but 626 goals in 715 games for Barcelona is While Messi is currently playing in Spain, many people still remember him as one of the best players of all time. Before Maradona, Pele was the undisputed greatest in most people's eyes. The vibe is upscale Malibu casual, but the talk is of crimes against humanity, an Argentine "dirty war" that left thousands dead and tens of thousands more "disappeared," and a trial 38 years ago that set an example for the world of how to make despots pay for their crimes. If Argentina wins for the third time, he says, it'll be as good as Maradona or Messi scoring three goals in a game. Internationally Messi plays around 10 games for Argentina while Maradona played 5.2 games. Overall, Messi has won 39 trophies during his career, compared to Maradona's 11. Hence, it is natural that comparisons have come about pitting Maradona with modern-day greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Messi not only wins Maradona's average, but he's also the all-time top scorer for the Argentina national team in the World Cups with 13 goals. He became a goalscoring phenomenon at the Bernabeu and is one of the world's most recognisable sportsmen. During his time at Barcelona, Andoni Goikoetxea, the Butcher of Bilbao, almost ended Maradonas career. He has set goalscoring records and won individual honors on his way to becoming recognized as one of the top soccer players in the world. "The movie crosses 40 years and reaches with the same message to a new generation," he says. . "But they also presented the context, through the [victims'] families, in a very smart way.". Its Hollywood.". The World Cup was his jam. While Maradona was addicted to drugs, Messi is a clean player, with a normal family life. For Maradona, it was revenge after Argentinas defeat by the British in the Malvinas/Falklands war. "We engaged the students in a very heated discussion about the judicial status of the Jedi," says Braun, who encouraged his friend to make the jump from Harvard to Southern California. On the pitch, Maradona hardly had any protection from match officials. His scoring form with PSG has suffered slightly, with only 23 in 53 games but he has Ligue 1 and French Cup-winning medals to go with it. 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Real Madrid planning move for Antonio Silva? From Carles Puyol to Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar (albeit briefly) and Luis Suarez Messi always had world-class players aplenty by his side. You could say Napoli vs. Barcelona is the Maradona derby. Maradona had more opportunities than Messi but he also received less support from his team mates. In 142 appearances for Argentina, Messi has scored 71 goals as against Maradonas who operated from a deeper position 34 in 91 international matches. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. One of the crucial successes of Maradona is bringing a lot of stricter rules and regulations with regard to challenges. He was able to create history after making moves which broke the world transfer record fee twice the first was a move to Barcelona in 1982 while he again broke the record in 1984 following the move to Napoli. "His boldness and his willingness to take those kind of chances is probably the most striking thing about him.". Diego Maradona considers Lionel Messi and Diego Messi to be the greatest players of all time. He was an unlikely choice as co-counsel to Julio Csar Strassera, the esteemed veteran barrister who mustered the gruesome evidence against Lt. Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla, Adm. Emilio Eduardo Massera, Brig.-Gen. Orlando Ramn Agosti and other henchmen of the Argentine military junta that overthrew President Isabel Pern in a 1976 coup then imposed a seven-year reign of terror on their nation. Both players gave their all (still giving, in Messi's case) and have nothing left to prove to anyone. You despair to think about how good a player Maradona might have been if he was pushed to meet 21st century standards of professionalism and had a Cristiano Ronaldo alongside him all the way. So you conduct the investigation. And Shilton, [the British goalkeeper] jumping with his eyes shut, was outraged! The achievements set by Messi might never be equalled on several fronts. At Barcelona, he won ten LaLiga titles and four Champions League-winning medals. The PSG superstar helped end his nation's agonising 36 year wait to bring the gold home. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Maradona in 2000 won Fifa's Player of the Century and was in 1995 handed a Ballon d'Or for services to football. Children belonging to leftist parents were kidnapped and given away for adoption to supporters of the dictatorship. Right then, well, let the data do the talking as we see who the statistics think had the better World Cup prime out of Messi and Maradona down below: Shots on target per game: Maradona 1.9-1.1 Messi, Goals from outside the box: Messi 3-0 Maradona, Key passes per game: Maradona 3.9-3.3 Messi, Long ball accuracy: Messi 79%-71% Maradona, Football - Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina - FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 - Group F - Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 15/6/14, Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his team's second and his first goal, Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jed Leicester, Crossing accuracy: Messi 29%-24% Maradona, Successful dribbles: Messi 63%-59% Maradona, Was fouled per game: Maradona 7.6-2.6 Messi, Possession lost per game: Messi 20.9-21.7 Maradona, Possession won per game: Maradona 0.6-0.6 Messi, Interceptions per game: Maradona 0.9-0.3 Messi, Average match rating: Maradona 8.39-7.86 Messi, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - JUNE 29: Argentina captain Diego Maradona holds aloft the trophy after the FIFA 1986 World Cup final match against West Germany at the Azteca Stadium on June 29th, 1986 in Mexico City, Mexico. He is also known for his skill with a ball, his elegance on the field, and his charity work off it. Probably the first football superstar, the Argentina-born forward was skilful, hugely prolific, creative and tactically versatile. It remains the first and only permanent international body granted jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity. , Updated March 1, 2023, Maradona vs Ronaldo vs Messi: Comparing three all-time greats. It was no wonder that Juventus decided to pay more than 100 million for a player approaching the end of his career. To be fair to you, Leo, it's a near-impossible task. The club also would go on to hand over Messi with the first of his many titles like the Champions League and La Liga. WebWho is faster Messi or Ronaldo? I felt I was pick pocketing the English.. Also read |The sainthood and fall from grace of Napolis Argentine deity. For other inquiries, Contact Us. If Messi was able to dothat to the same extent, he'd surely have a World Cup -or even a Copa America -to show for it., There is very, very little in this, but for that fact alone, it's Maradona who comes out as the true GOAT.. The winger from Maderia in Portugal was transformed into a full-time centre forward with a lot of success. FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS - BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS. Both Messi and Maradona share similar styles of playing: great speed, a wonderful dribbling, and the capacity to send the ball to the best placed teammate. Sorry Lionel, but it looks like what most fans would have predicted ahead of time has actually come to pass: 1986 Maradona was simply playing football from another planet. Regard to challenges hugely prolific, creative and tactically versatile and Pel once a very way! On several fronts tactically versatile News Group Newspapers Limited to Maradona 's death at the age of 60 reignited... 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who is faster messi or maradona
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