Roberto Baggio vs Lionel Messi

The funniest part of this thread is that most posters who discredit Baggio completely and laugh never even watched him play. You only have seen his youtube videos, lmao!!!

I've watched ALL the great players and Maradona is the greatest player, hands down. He won a World Cup by himself and he led an average Napoli team to two scudetti all by himself.

As for Messi versus Baggio, I would rate Messi higher for overall skill and ability, but Baggio is actually real close. He is my favourite player of all time and I watched him closely throughout his career. But Messi cannot compare to Maradona. Messi needs to win a world cup beforre he can be compared to the great Maradona. Messi has won lots of trophies yes, but he has done that with a great team behind him. He has done nothing with a great Argentina squad, and now that Barcelona has been beaten, he may not accomplish as much in the future as he has accomplished already in the past. Time will tell. But with Messi it is just too early, as he is still only in his mid 20's. We need another 10 years or so before we can determine Messi's final chapter and how he ranks among the greatest players. But he still has time to pass Maradona in terms of greatness, so we will see what happens.

Please, before everyone that is supporting Messi posts, please let me know how much you watched of Baggio. Cuz i watched him through most of his career. Most of you probably only have watched youtube videos.

And btw, trophies mattered more when Baggio was around because the competition back then was a shitload better. A whole nother level of competition actually, which is also why Baggio doesnt have a CL. Neither does Maradona. Both are better than Messi.

And please, whoever said Baggio is a flop or big fish in a small pond, just stop. Youre making yourself look like a fool. Im trying not to be disrespectful, but you dont know what youre talking about at all.

And im nitpicking only around the accomplishments Messi has that he shouldnt have, and youre basically doing the same, just the other way around. Youre nitpicking on how Baggio didnt win things such as more than one Ballon Dor when he shouldve. And btw, Baggio scored in more than half the games he played in in Europe. And hes a trequartista. Such a big game flop. HA.

juve_gigi wrote:The funniest part of this thread is that most posters who discredit Baggio completely and laugh never even watched him play. You only have seen his youtube videos, lmao!!!

I've watched ALL the great players and Maradona is the greatest player, hands down. He won a World Cup by himself and he led an average Napoli team to two scudetti all by himself.

As for Messi versus Baggio, I would rate Messi higher for overall skill and ability, but Baggio is actually real close. He is my favourite player of all time and I watched him closely throughout his career. But Messi cannot compare to Maradona. Messi needs to win a world cup beforre he can be compared to the great Maradona. Messi has won lots of trophies yes, but he has done that with a great team behind him. He has done nothing with a great Argentina squad, and now that Barcelona has been beaten, he may not accomplish as much in the future as he has accomplished already in the past. Time will tell. But with Messi it is just too early, as he is still only in his mid 20's. We need another 10 years or so before we can determine Messi's final chapter and how he ranks among the greatest players. But he still has time to pass Maradona in terms of greatness, so we will see what happens.

Nice post.

They are both awesome in my opinion.

But here are some important factors, that made Baggio's career all the more remarkable.

- At the age of 18, he suffered a crippling injury. His ripped his knee ligaments, he needed 235 internal stitches, and had a 4 inch metal bolt inserted into his leg. His doctor told him that he would never be able to play again. But he chose to fight on, playing through the pain barrier for the next 19 years. This injury resulted in him having one leg, a little shorter than the other.
- Prior to his injury, Baggio was ripping up the junior goalscoring records.

Comparing the players is a little unfair, because current attacking players, have a lot more benefits these days, i.e. better pitches, footballs, footware, physiopherapy techniques, they are afforded more protection from the referees, and defences are not as good these days (mostly due to them not being allowed to defend)

When Baggio played, Serie A had the best defences that I have ever seen. Much better than they are now.

Also, Baggio never had the same kind of supporting cast that Messi currently has. Baggio had some great defences behind him, but not great creative players like Xavi, Iniesta, or Riquelme. In the 90's many defensive Italian coaches often played Baggio either out of position, and failed to utliise him properly, not giving him the freedom to express himself; unlike Guardiola, who gave Messi a full canvass.

They have very similar skill-sets. They are equal in most departments. Messi is faster, but Baggio's 'weaker' foot was stronger, and he was better at set-pieces. Messi is more consistent, (but Baggio did have mitigating circumstances throughout his career, as mentioned above, which didn't help him). Baggio was more unpredictable. Messi always seems to start a run down the left, cut in, just outside the penalty area, and then take a shot, which usually results in goals.

At the end of the day, we are very fortunate to have the pleasure in watching these amazing players. Not only do/didthey have extraordinary skills, they also have/had fantastic attitudes, attitudes that are all too rare in the modern game. Just enjoy them!

Daltonbay wrote:They are both awesome in my opinion.

But here are some important factors, that made Baggio's career all the more remarkable.

- At the age of 18, he suffered a crippling injury. His ripped his knee ligaments, he needed 235 internal stitches, and had a 4 inch metal bolt inserted into his leg. His doctor told him that he would never be able to play again. But he chose to fight on, playing through the pain barrier for the next 19 years. This injury resulted in him having one leg, a little shorter than the other.
- Prior to his injury, Baggio was ripping up the junior goalscoring records.

Comparing the players is a little unfair, because current attacking players, have a lot more benefits these days, i.e. better pitches, footballs, footware, physiopherapy techniques, they are afforded more protection from the referees, and defences are not as good these days (mostly due to them not being allowed to defend)

When Baggio played, Serie A had the best defences that I have ever seen. Much better than they are now.

Also, Baggio never had the same kind of supporting cast that Messi currently has. Baggio had some great defences behind him, but not great creative players like Xavi, Iniesta, or Riquelme. In the 90's many defensive Italian coaches often played Baggio either out of position, and failed to utliise him properly, not giving him the freedom to express himself; unlike Guardiola, who gave Messi a full canvass.

They have very similar skill-sets. They are equal in most departments. Messi is faster, but Baggio's 'weaker' foot was stronger, and he was better at set-pieces. Messi is more consistent, (but Baggio did have mitigating circumstances throughout his career, as mentioned above, which didn't help him). Baggio was more unpredictable. Messi always seems to start a run down the left, cut in, just outside the penalty area, and then take a shot, which usually results in goals.

At the end of the day, we are very fortunate to have the pleasure in watching these amazing players. Not only do/didthey have extraordinary skills, they also have/had fantastic attitudes, attitudes that are all too rare in the modern game. Just enjoy them!

Class post.

alexjanosik wrote:
You can give all the excuses you want.Botttom line is Maradona played in the European Cup and he flopped.He couldnt do the job and he was a big game flop.

Maradona big game flop ? He won the WC single-handled.

Kizu wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:
You can give all the excuses you want.Botttom line is Maradona played in the European Cup and he flopped.He couldnt do the job and he was a big game flop.

Maradona big game flop ? He won the WC single-handled.

Yup, he played Goal keeper, defense and attack the other 10 members of the team sat in bench.

Donuts wrote:

Kizu wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:
You can give all the excuses you want.Botttom line is Maradona played in the European Cup and he flopped.He couldnt do the job and he was a big game flop.

Maradona big game flop ? He won the WC single-handled.

Yup, he played Goal keeper, defense and attack the other 10 members of the team sat in bench.

lol You can always tell the people that did not watch the WC.

Hi guys,

Just found this post about Baggio and I thought I may add some light on this player since I've seen him at least 100 times through his career live on the pitch and countless times on tv. Sorry for my english since it's not my mother language I'll do my best to be clear.

Roby is my favourite player and I grew up watching him (im 34) so I may be a little biased althought I really admire Messi these days.

As it has been said before Baggio is probably one of the greatest ever but he is way underratted in history books for various reasons.

First of all he suffered a terrible knee injury wich, at the time, should have retired him definitely from football, but with the help of his faith (he is an active buddhist) he fought through his entire career to be at the best he could deliver.

In Italy we sort of destroyed his career, knowing that he was a whirling force pre 90 and that when he did recover from his knee he was the best player in the world by far btw 90 and 94. But what pple dont realize it's that in 94, at the prime age of 27, we put him apart and coaches began to threat him like an underdog, benching him most of the time (apart the late brescia era). So all in all he managed to score and shine despite the fact of having a play time of half a match more or less every sunday....And beleive it or not, except the 98 WC where he came back after a tremendous season at bologna he never really played back for the italian NT after the PK of 94.

So yes it's true all in all we ruined the career of a player who could have done at least twice of what he did juste because we needed a scapegoat after the 94 failure and that Roby was the perfect one, being shy humble and buddhist in a catholic country...In the 94 95 season the mafiosi combo arived in Torino = Moggi Lippi and they decided to bet all on Del Piero, who even if I think he made a decent career, has been a failure on a NT level. He shined in juve ofc but for 18 years he had a whole team working for him, dont forget that...Baggio did never had that except in Brescia, but never on a top side but STILL managed to be one of the all time best. You have to print that in your mind if you want to realize who was Roby. Since the Baggio suffered in his relationship with coaches like Capello Sacchi Lippi Ulivieri, etc.. All kind of coaches who doesnt give a shit about individuality, they just think that if the team play like they want to, it ll be enough (apart maybe Capello who beleive a little more on talent)



Now that you know the context, I can assure you that Baggio was simply incredible to watch on a pitch, even better than Maradona (if you take away Maradona 86-89 which is maybe unreachable)

Everyone in Italy knows that if Baggio had been born in Brazil he would have overcome players like Pele or Maradona, because his technique was so fine, nut most of all because he had a vision of the game absolutely outside of the norm:

In other words, a player who had to compensate with his brain his physical limits. Ive seen Baggio score in every position FK center left right, outside the bos inside always the perfect shot no unecessary tricks only the things needed, simple and painful fot the opponents.

BUT it's true that pple can't realize how big Baggio was because, apart a ballon d'or, he nearly won anything..if you want to understand how fabulous this man was just watch "io che sarò Roby baggio" and ull understand. This man had it all: humble, calm, didnt like the attention, not shallow..He led a perfect life, had always the same girl since he was 16, he was and is always the same guy, so grounded..with a very deep passion in his eyes, not like primadonna like DP or Totti or CR now...just imagine what Baggio would have done for football if he never had an injury, had a top team for him during 20 years and had played for Italian NT from the brginning til the end...I just can't imagine..

That being said I love Messi this days and for me he is by far the world best player so it's unfair to compare Baggio to him..they just are 2 amazing players who will stand in the legend of football forever even if Messi is still young and has to prove that he can face the time with the same level..But like it has been said Messi play in such conditions that it cant be compare to Baggio...but one thing for sure: you can't say that Messi is better than Baggio, the few vid posted should be enough to prove it...and vidz are nothing, Serie A in 90's was veryyyy hard for players like Baggio, Messi and even if today defender are more athletic you still have to prove me that Puyol or Pepe is better than Baresi or Maldini

Here is Roby meeting Leo

youtube.com/watch?v=KG9CkPjobaI

and if you want the full version of il sogno sopo with Guardiola saying that Baggio was the greatest player which he has played with:

youtube.com/watch?v=VhrnNp_YHxM&feature=related

jibers wrote:

Donuts wrote:

Kizu wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:
You can give all the excuses you want.Botttom line is Maradona played in the European Cup and he flopped.He couldnt do the job and he was a big game flop.

Maradona big game flop ? He won the WC single-handled.

Yup, he played Goal keeper, defense and attack the other 10 members of the team sat in bench.

lol You can always tell the people that did not watch the WC.

2:05

lol you can always tell the people that PLAYED in the world cup

Diego Armando Maradona wrote:

jibers wrote:

Donuts wrote:

Kizu wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:
You can give all the excuses you want.Botttom line is Maradona played in the European Cup and he flopped.He couldnt do the job and he was a big game flop.

Maradona big game flop ? He won the WC single-handled.

Yup, he played Goal keeper, defense and attack the other 10 members of the team sat in bench.

lol You can always tell the people that did not watch the WC.

2:05

lol you can always tell the people that PLAYED in the world cup

Moswt of Digo's teammates have said Messi is better so what does that prove? I watched the whole tournament, and the sytem was built round Maradona. Why was Maradona constantly flopping in the CL? Explain? You can't have it both ways. pele is in his own league atm.

It proves that saying he won it on his own does not mean the person saying it did not watch the world cup Tbh its amusing when somone tries to debunk the "myth" that maradona didnt win it on his own. They seem to take the term literally and once they see he did actually have teammates they think this proves he didnt. Well, dont take the term literally, he did have capable teammates, but if you watched the tournament you will see he created nearly all their chances with his own individualism, forced opponents to change their tactics just because he was on the team, scored the game winners in the quarter final and semi final, in the quarter final he scored by literally beating the entire defence on his own, in the semi final, again, he scored by beating the defence on his own (10 of the 14 goals argentina scored were scored or assisted by maradona LOL) and in the final after the argie's supposedly superb defence blew a two goal lead against germany, it was maradonas pure vision and skill that assisted the winning goal that turned the game back in argentinas favour with about 10 minutes to go to take it back out of germanys hands, watch the game, germany were barely even bothered about the rest of argentinas team, they gave his teammates acres of space just because they were focusing on maradona. Over half of argentinas shots were set up or taken by maradona, he dribbled more than 3 times more than anyone else, more assists than anyone else, argentinas top scorer, fouled 53 times nearly twice as much as anyone else (53 fouls in 7 games, thats about 8 fouls a game! nearly once every 10 minutes throughout the tournament). Dont just look at stats though, these goals werent tap ins, these assists werent simple cut backs, most of them were works of genius, he was scoring and creating goals/chances out of next to nothing REGULARLY throughout the tournament using individual brilliance. So the system was built around him, what do you think the system would have been without him?

-----------------------

If by "constantly" flopping you mean twice, i dont know why he was not at his best against real madrid in the 88 season, if you watched the games he looked out of shape tbh. In the 91 season, well, if you watched football back then you will know all about why maradona didnt do well that season

bhasma wrote:Now that you know the context, I can assure you that Baggio was simply incredible to watch on a pitch, even better than Maradona (if you take away Maradona 86-89 which is maybe unreachable)

Everyone in Italy knows that if Baggio had been born in Brazil he would have overcome players like Pele or Maradona, because his technique was so fine, nut most of all because he had a vision of the game absolutely outside of the norm:

maradona was better to watch than baggio ever showed in 84-87 and 79-81. 82 to 84 was great at barcelona as well but unlucky. So if you take away maradona 86-89 baggio still wasnt better to watch.

juventus101 wrote:Baggio fanboys owned? How so? By bringing up that Messi has more titles? Championships dont mean shit. A guy can be by far the best in the world but play for the worst team in the world, it doesnt make him any worse. Also, back then, only the winners of the league got into the CL and the level of competition was multiple times better than what it is now. And it just shows that you guys know nothing of Baggio when you call him a journeyman. I assume by journeyman you mean he just strolls thriugh his career not amounting to much? Thats a *bleep* insult to one of definitely, and in my opinion the best player to ever live. And whoever said that or agrees with that is a joke, and should just stop debating cuz you look like fools now. And im sorry, i dont want to sidetrack this thread, but Baggio shouldve had at the very least 3 Ballon Dors (shouldve had one o er Stoichkov and if he wasnt fighting through and injury and made that penalty he wouldve won over Romario too, among others), and Messi should only have two CL max (shouldve been knocked out by Chelsea in 08/09, and the Arsenal game in 09/10 Barca also got a lot of help from the ref), and shouod also only have two Ballon Dors (Sneijder shouldve won it in 09, no doubt about it).

Have you forgotten that against Arsenal, Barca got a goal wrongly disallowed, should have 4 penalties but only got 1 and van persie should have been sent off in the first half for the bitch slapp on Alves and that against Chelsea barca should have had 2 penalties and Abidal got a even worse red than Van Persie?.

Funny how the importance of penalties not given and bad red cards changes when its Barca thats involved. In one game, a bad sending off doesnt matter, simply because its barca that got a player wrongly sent off, and all thats matter is the penalties. While in another game, 3 penalties not given doesnt matter, because they were not given to Barca, and the only thing that matters is the bad red card, when infact the player should have been sent off in the first half....

Jealousy, huh?

juventus101 wrote:Baggio fanboys owned? How so? By bringing up that Messi has more titles? Championships dont mean shit. A guy can be by far the best in the world but play for the worst team in the world, it doesnt make him any worse. Also, back then, only the winners of the league got into the CL and the level of competition was multiple times better than what it is now. And it just shows that you guys know nothing of Baggio when you call him a journeyman. I assume by journeyman you mean he just strolls thriugh his career not amounting to much? Thats a *bleep* insult to one of definitely, and in my opinion the best player to ever live. And whoever said that or agrees with that is a joke, and should just stop debating cuz you look like fools now. And im sorry, i dont want to sidetrack this thread, but Baggio shouldve had at the very least 3 Ballon Dors (shouldve had one o er Stoichkov and if he wasnt fighting through and injury and made that penalty he wouldve won over Romario too, among others), and Messi should only have two CL max (shouldve been knocked out by Chelsea in 08/09, and the Arsenal game in 09/10 Barca also got a lot of help from the ref), and shouod also only have two Ballon Dors (Sneijder shouldve won it in 09, no doubt about it).

Just shows how ignorant and misinformed you are.

Diego Armando Maradona wrote:

bhasma wrote:Now that you know the context, I can assure you that Baggio was simply incredible to watch on a pitch, even better than Maradona (if you take away Maradona 86-89 which is maybe unreachable)

Everyone in Italy knows that if Baggio had been born in Brazil he would have overcome players like Pele or Maradona, because his technique was so fine, nut most of all because he had a vision of the game absolutely outside of the norm:

maradona was better to watch than baggio ever showed in 84-87 and 79-81. 82 to 84 was great at barcelona as well but unlucky. So if you take away maradona 86-89 baggio still wasnt better to watch.

I personnaly believe that Maradona was a little bit overrated in the early 80's I can't say it for sure since I was too young and only saw footage, but many of my family members did watch him before and they don't think for sure that he was best than baggio at his best. Diego had his momentum from mexico 86 to the 2nd scudetto in napoli, wich is already huge and maybe no other player in the world and history had such a big moment.

But Maradona in Spain 82 was a failure and before Napoli he still was great but by no mean absolutely bette than Roby I guess.

That being said I started to go to the stadio at the age of 9 and saw many Maradona games at his peak, yes he was magic but even there baggio was more or less what he had been in his early years. I mean the fiorentina Baggio was a semi God and the footage you ll find on the net doesnt say it all. He almost never lost a ball on a single match, he was running like a beast and scoring pure class goals...Very very few players in the history had a starting career like Roby..But don't misunderstand me Diego was certainly one of those and still I'm not a fool, overall, I rate Maradona higher, but Baggio isn't that far away as many pple would tend to guess

I dont think its correct to say he was overrated in the early 80s. I watched quite a lot of his games from the late 70s/early 80s and it was remarkable how skillful he already was and more to the point how influential he was. When he was 18 he was already the key player of the national team, there were senior players like kempes, passarella and ardiles yet this kid had taken over as the main man already. He was already being declared "the new pele" and "best player in the world before he turned 20", i found an example of the sort of reaction there was to him at the time here, its an interesting read

http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1123512/index.htm


Anyways, i can think of two reasons why people wouldnt think he was great in the early 80s, you mentioned one of them already, the world cup 82, as well as his time in barcelona. The 82 world cup was not his tournament, he underperformed, the whole argentina underperformed, they played against a great brazil team and a very good italy team (that was allowed to play dirty by the referee) The 82 world cup kind of confirmed the argentina team was overrated and only won the 78 world cup thanks to making full use of their home advantage (both legally and illegally), they had some big names but didnt function well as a team. For maradona, he also underperformed, but he can genuinly claim he was kicked out of the world cup, all the brutal fouls must of somewhat affected his performance. Either way, it didnt represent how great he was during these years.
His barcelona years continued what was a very difficult time for him, his first season was ruined by illness, his second season was ruined by injury. In fact the injury he recieved made him lose flexibility in his ankle for the rest of his career, and he had to perfect a new technique for taking free kicks. All this might have given some people the impression he wasnt as great in these years, but he was, he was a genius during these years when he was fit, despite getting battered by defenders. After all the brutality maradona went through on the pitch, fifa started to change things, they wanted the game to be more entertaining and couldnt continue to watch its star being treated like this, so in the 86 world cup referees were stricter than before.
Anyway, in 84/85/86 he had many of his best performances for napoli before the world cup, but napoli didnt win any trophies as they were very very poor in his first years there

He was consistently amongst Barca's best players at his time there. His problems at Barca were injury and off-the-pitch antics, I don't think anyone complained about his actual performance there.

That article DAM posted was pure gold. Thanks for sharing.

juventus101 wrote:R9 is awesome, but Baggio wasnt favored by the dumb coach and stull outshine him when they were together a Inter. So nice try.

Rivaldo? Gimme a break.

They dont press Baggio because thats not the way italian defenses were at that point. Its a different type of defending, butbit doesnt make it worse becayse they dont dive in all day. If anything, players like Messi and Baggio thrive on defenders diving in on then all day.

outshine???

Baggio was a flop in Inter, Ronaldo stayed out for half a season and yet managed to do 15 goals in 19  games in league.

The inter with Baggio and without Ronaldo incoming in 8 position. A bad season for Inter with Baggio.

Baggio has never been a great player in great team, he was a flop at Milan and in Inter and also half flop at Juventus.

In AC Milan has not won the league titles like a starring.

In the Serie A 94-95 did not win the league by like a starring

He played for Juventus in the period more 'black for juve and that means' first half' .. 90 years later with the arrival of Lippi and 'was also put aside and Juve started to win, will mean' something?

Messi is smilar to Baggio, but he have better control and is much faster than doing many more goals.


Baggio scored in 318 career goals, 108 in penalty

Baggio was not a flop anywhere. You're obviously just looking at stats which don't show even close to the whole story especially since Baggio was a trequartista/second striker. He wasn't favored by the coaches of AC and Inter Milan for numerous reason but not his talent. And a flop at Juventus? You must be kidding. Back then only the winners of the league got into the CL and that's why he doesn't have a CL medal, but he showed even at Inter (where he wasn't as good as he was at Juve), that he tears apart the best of teams on his day (comes on as sub, scores 2 solo goals against Real Madrid in one of Madrids strongest years). Also, you're forgetting that Baggio could only affect a league finish so much because of his reoccurring knee problems.

He also showed everyone what he could do with Italy. Carrying an average team (I know a lot of you will look at that team online and say it was strong, but you're forgetting that Maldini was still very young and Baresi was way past it, I could go on and on) and he carried that team in 94 to the final of the World Cup.

I also disagree that Messi has better control. The only thing I agree with you on is that they are similar. Not physically strong enough to stand up to shoulders from big defenders so they learn how to ride with them, rely on close control, quick bursts of acceleration, etc.

Right now I say Baggio is better just because Messi is still young so he needs to show that he can sustain these elite levels for a long while, as well as do something on the international stage. If Messi tears up the WC, hes the best of all time in my opinion.

 Personally i don't rate messi as high as everyone else does , im not saying this to make any of you Messi lovers mad , If i was a teenager when he showed up and started playing i would have been exactly like you , to me Messi and current Argentinian players can never reach the level of the previous Argentine (those that i had chance to watch as a kid)and i simply avoid answering this because i Like Baggio

IL Gladiatore wrote: Personally i don't rate messi as high as everyone else does , im not saying this to make any of you Messi lovers mad , If i was a teenager when he showed up and started playing i would have been exactly like you , to me Messi and current Argentinian players can never reach the level of the previous Argentine (those that i had chance to watch as a kid)and  i simply avoid answering this because i Like Baggio  

Which is an exact proof you are a kid, or don't have proper knowledge.

 take that as a complement

•MilanDevil• wrote:I honestly think Baggio is better, why you ask? Compare both leagues that the both of these players have played/playing in. Messi's league is less competitive which means that he is not obliged to play at his best every single game, which inturn means that in the long term he will be less tired. Baggio on the other hand had a lot of competition in the league during his career and teams were able to compete since they were paid correctly for the broadcasting right, on the other hand, Barcelona and Real get paid 142 m per year while other teams loosing on their fair share, hence, Sevilla's fan protesting. Dont get me wrong, I am a fan of Barca and  I love Messi a lot but I do not think he is better than Baggio. Nevertheless, Baggio performed in every team that he played for and also in the national team, Messi on the other hand did not play for another team so we can not judge if he is dependent on his teammates, plus, Messi for Argentina is not the same Messi for Barca. All I am saying is that for the mean time, Messi is not better than Baggio but he still has time and if he manages to perform for his country (hopefully) then he will be the best. I really dont care who is the best as long as the player deserves it and is actually a humble human being, unlike, both Maradona and Pele who argue like children every single time.

I think this is the most embarrassing paragraph that I ever wrote. Baggio was very good but he is not better than Messi.

 in this forum Messi considered above football , such a shame any argument against him cause warning , even mentioning facts and stats and videos and pic not hailing him considered trolling an the logic of goal legacy is if "you dont agree with me you know nothing " ego Legacy!

Messi in his prime looked unnatural. Its like it is not humanly possible to do what he did any better. Which unfortunately takes my mind back to the fact he grew up on GH, or he would be a lot shorter and not what he is today. Perhaps it is not fair to compare Messi to others in that regard