Lionel Messi Brushes off Diego Maradona, Pele Pressure Ahead of World Cup

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 15, 2014

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Lionel Messi is already a certified football icon, sitting alongside the sport's greatest talents at the age of 26. The four-time Ballon d'Or winner, whose list of accolades covers every major club trophy with Barcelona, doesn't feel he has anything to prove at this summer's World Cup.

Detractors suggest that, because Messi hasn't led Argentina to glory, he cannot be compared with Diego Maradona and Pele.

Although Messi struggled to make an impression during both the 2006 and the 2010 tournaments, scoring a combined total of one goal in eight matches, per FIFA, he isn't bothered by the age-old comparison with former greats, per Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC:

I do not want to be world champion with Argentina so that people can say that I will be a great like Pele or Maradona. I want to do it to achieve this objective with the national team, and to add this title to my list of trophies.



These comments come shortly after Ossie Ardiles, who won the 1978 tournament with Argentina, suggested Messi cannot be compared to the aforementioned legends until he lifts the famous trophy, per Reuters (via the Toronto Sun):

Right now Messi might be regarded as the greatest player in the whole history of the game but he would give all the medals he has won with Barcelona just to win one World Cup, that is how important it is for him.

To be considered alongside the top, top guys like Pele and Diego Maradona and so on, he not only needs to be in the World Cup but to win it.

Messi stands one win away from adding a seventh La Liga title to his repertoire. Despite Barcelona's poor season, victory over current leaders Atletico Madrid will see the Blaugrana emerge victorious via the Spanish division's head-to-head ruling.



He stands alongside the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta as players who have defined Barca's recent era of success. Even so, Messi indicated he f...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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