Why Lionel Messi will never be greater than Diego Maradona
No doubts over Messi’s abilities but on the capability to carry the team’s burden
So after a little over a month of World cup fever, the carnival in Brazil has finally ended. 24 years later its déjà vu for Argentina all over again as Germany pipped them to the world title with a similar scoreline in the finals. The scenes after the final whistle was expected, jubilation for the winners, despair for the losers. The final itself was quite a spectacle with both sides playing at full tempo with quite a few chances. But after battling it out for grueling 120 minutes of football, the Germans edged out Messi’s Argentina with a goal perhaps worthy of such a finale by Mario Gotze. Such a moment of brilliance was perhaps more expected from Messi than Gotze (No disrespect to Gotze’s talent as he could go on to win the Ballon D‘or in the near future). Messi, for all his God gifted talent and otherworldly skills, hasn’t quite been able to do what his idol did 28 years earlier.
Messi is no doubt one of the greatest of all times. With all his goals and trophies, he has already surpassed Maradona and Pele at least at Club level. Internationally, he has improved a lot under the wily Argentina coach Sabella. His tactical nous has brought out the best in Messi in national colors which even the great Maradona, as the coach of Argentina in the previous world cup edition, could not. Yet there remains a doubt, not in Messi’s footballing abilities but his ability to carry the whole team on his shoulders and to inspire, like his idol once did 28 years earlier. You can see in the semi-final match with the Dutch, Messi was a subdued figure.
Although he was crowded off the ball by the Dutch players, he hardly inspired confidence. On the other hand, Mascherano was the real leader on the pitch. Covering every inch of grass and like a shadow he followed Robben everywhere not allowing the playmaker any space to exploit. Shouting and screaming at his teammates and also leading by example (his penalty box tackle on Robben is case in point), Mascherano showed every bit of the leadership quality that Messi could not, especially in the games that mattered the most.
Despite of that, there are many who will still consider Messi as the best of all time irrespective of whether he wins the World cup or not. They argue that Messi does not need a win to confirm his status as the greatest footballer, and I completely agree with that point of view. However, many consider the World Cup as the stage where the good crossover to the category of greats. It’s ‘THE’ tournament for every player who wants to write his name alongside footballing Gods. It is this tournament where legends are made and have etched their name in Football’s history.
And it is in this tournament ‘Diego Armando Maradona’ became the Ultimate footballing God. Carrying a team of average players and inspiring them to a world cup win is what has confirmed Maradona as the greatest of all times. It was his ability to shoulder the responsibility of the whole team and create that magic moment at games of huge magnitude, which sets him apart from a Cryuff, Di Stefano or a Messi.
Maradona was a successful one-man army
Like it’s rightfully said, you cannot compare players from two different eras. But the comparison between players of two different eras is inevitable and if it includes players with similar skills and playing styles it becomes a favorite topic of discussion and debate among sports lovers. People who have seen Messi and Maradona play can vouch that it’s like watching mirror images. The similar physical stature, the burst of pace, the quick change in direction and that extra sixth gear, all these are the common traits these both great players share. Add to that, the similar type of goals they scored, and its looks more than a coincidence.
However, as much similar their on the field playing similarities are, they cannot be two very different individuals. Messi is known as a reserved, silent and disciplined individual who stays away from unnecessary media attention. Maradona, on the other hand, was media’s favorite. He was a larger than life individual. He was emotional, passionate and always wore his heart on his sleeve. He was as well known for his off-field controversies as much as his on field exploits. Many say it is because his life off the pitch that Maradona has lost out to Pele as the greatest ever.
Although arguable, this topic is a different matter of discussion altogether. Maradona for all his shortcomings away from the football field was a pure genius on it. Single-handedly winning the world cup made him from one of the greats to the greatest. And it was no fluke that he inspired an average Argentina team to a world cup. He did it again with Napoli, a team who always languished between the mid-table and fight for relegation in ‘Serie A’. He transformed that team into Italian and European champions by beating Giants of Italian football like AC Milan and Juventus.
When we look at all the incidents of diving at this world cup, you wonder how Maradona survived during his time. That was the era of sliding tackles and body checks, where there was hardly any protection for the man carrying the ball as the rules did not favor the attackers as much as they do now. You can go to Youtube and pick up any of Maradona’s videos to see players flying into him on the context of just injuring him so that he would have less of an impact. But when you see him evading tackles, falling and rolling yet staying on his feet and still taking on half of the opposition team all by himself (and this is not an exaggeration) you can just look in awe and admire. You could play the videos again and again yet you couldn’t fathom how unbelievable this guy was.
And not just this reason, under pressure he used to create moments of magic that I believe would have excited a paralytic man into jumping all over the place. With Maradona it’s not about the Oooh’s and the Aaah’s, but the complete Jaw dropping disbelief. Such was the level of his skill that his teammates looked like world class players which they certainly were not. Although Messi does create those awe-inspiring moments, they come in a team full of world class talent at Club level. Backed up by the likes of Xavi , Iniesta, Alexis Sanchez, Fabregas etc. Messi has plethora of goals, records and trophies. But he is afforded no such luxury at national level where he has to be the creator, provider and also the scorer.
Similar German obstruction but different outcomes
What Messi lacks is the leadership quality and the ability to inspire his teammates in the big matches. He looks lost against much better teams who work him out tactically to nullify his impact on the game. An astute coach like Jose Mourinho has done this so effectively at club level and many other coaches at national level have followed suit. He has had his moments in this world cup, but you can point to the level of opposition. He did not score in any of the knockout matches and though there were magic moments, those were few and far between.
Compare this to Mardona’s performance in the knockouts against England and Belgium where he stepped up when his team wanted him the most. He scored the best goal ever against England after the ‘Hand of God’ goal and against Belgium scored another breathtaking solo goal taking on five Belgium defenders. In the final, Messi tried his best but just could not come up with a moment of brilliance to settle the match even though he got a good chance to put one past Neuer. His shot just went across the face of the goal. But when the stakes are so high and you are one of the best, you have to convert such chances.
And as is the case, it cost Argentina dearly. Compare this to Maradona’s performance in the final where he was marked out the game. German players took turns to do a number on him and kept him quite for almost the entire match. But such was Maradona’s personality and talent just when his team needed magic he created one. The ball that released Jorge Burruchaga for the winning goal, showed Maradona’s prodigious talent, his vision and his ability to come up with something out of nothing. The amazing stat was that Maradona scored or assisted Argentina’s 10 out of 14 goals in the tournament.
So after this world cup, the coveted trophy still eludes Lionel Messi. His performance in the competition won him the Golden Ball, given to the best player. For all he did in the tournament, he just wasn’t good enough to get out of Maradona’s shadow. He will get another shot at the cup four years from now with hopefully a better team. He may even win the prestigious prize and complete his already overflowing trophy cabinet. But as far as being the all time best goes, Maradona still reigns supreme over other footballing Gods. Messi has many individual honors, Pele has more World cups, Cruyff’s flair and Franz ‘Kaiser’ Beckenbauer’s elegance, Zidane’s exquisite control or Ronaldinho’s magic, they all are greats in their own rights and each individual is the best of them all for their fans.
But when it came to choosing the best among equals, the people all over made the unanimous choice of Maradona as the player of the century in FIFA’s online poll where Pele came second. So no matter if Lionel Messi wins the World cup and keeps on accumulating trophies, he will always be the ‘Prince’ to the ‘King’ – Diego Armando Maradona.