Will Messi continue his goalscoring prowess at the Brazil showpiece?
Back in 2006, when the FIFA mega event took place on German soil, Argentina boasted a swashbuckling squad comprising with the likes of Xavier Zanetti, Gabriel Heinze, Estaben Cambiasso etc. Amongst them was a 19 year old prodigy who had shown glimpses of his hidden talent with Barcelona and was tauted as a future best player. That boy was none other than Lionel Messi.
The then Argentine coach Jose Pekerman was highly impressed by Messi's talent and handed him a chance to showcase the same at football's biggest stage, the World Cup. It did not take long as in their 2nd group game against Serbia and Montenegro, Messi came in as a substitute in the 75th minute and scored his first ever goal at the World Cup, 2 minutes from time to round off a 6-0 thrashing of the European minnows. Thereon,the expectations soared and he had to face the prospect of emulating Argentina's all time great, Diego Maradona.
However, that was not to be.
Messi always found himself at the receiving end of criticism for not being able to conjure his fearceful best with his national side that he normally does in Catalan colours. But exactly 8 years later (after going goal-less for 3 major tournaments), on 16th of June 2014, Messi was finally able to banish all the biter memories of the past as he found the net, for only the second time, against world cup debutants Bosnia . The Catalan great outmaneuvered Bosnian defenders and seared an amazing volley which trundled into the net after hitting the crossbar. Messi exulted vibrantly as he finally got the monkey off his back. But is it enough ?
The plausible answer is NO. Definitely not. Just one goal in 8 years proved to be good enough to lighten-up the anxious faces of his supporters but surely not good enough to call him as the greatest. Forthcoming fixtures to Iran and Nigeria are a litmus test to whether he can continue to find himself on the score sheet. Considering all the laurels hes achieved with the club and all the individual honours, he should. But there's no assurance. Who knows, it may be just a lightening that never rained.
To be amongst the ranks of Pele, Maradona etc., Messi shall perhaps do something more than scoring just one goal. The world awaits to see him burnish his credentials by performing at bigger platforms for Argentina(the World Cup in particular.)
Can he finally break the jinx and open floodgates at the current event? Can Messi continue his goalscoring prowess? Well, we'll come to know as the drama unfolds.