This Sunday, Barcelona's star forward Lionel Messi scored three goals and had an assist in Barcelona's 5-0 rout of Tenerife (think of it as the Colts beating up on the Lions).
I'm from Argentina, a country that literally empties its streets when the World Cup rolls around, and Messi has frustrated me to the point of questioning whether he is a true superstar or just a byproduct of his Barcelona teammates catering to him.
When he is in Spain, Messi is unstoppable. As of this Sunday, the 22-year-old forward is the Spanish league's top-scorer with 12 goals in 17 matches, and his individual prowess has earned Barcelona SIX championships in the past year alone, and it has driven him to earning the Golden Ball, which is the award given to the best player in the world each year.
However, when he puts on the Argentinean national team's number 10 jersey, Messi becomes a completely different player...Average, unmotivated, dragging his feet through the field and looking lost. Messi scored only 4 goals in Argentina's 18 World Cup qualifying matches and can't seem to find his place on the team.
As a result, Argentina is playing its worst soccer in decades and has several questions heading into this year's World Cup.
Messi seems to be taking it all very personally, as if he feels he is carrying a huge burden on his back and can't prove he is Argentinean enough because he never played for an Argentinean club team.
If I had a chance to talk to Messi, I would tell him that if he really wants to prove to everyone that he loves Argentina he doesn't need to kiss the jersey or say he would love to retire there...All I'm asking for is to see him leave every drop of sweat he has on the field and not see him walk on it with his head down because he can't get the ball. We know you can change a match, but can you change a team's losing ways? 40 million Argentineans are waiting for that to happen and for you to cement your legacy in soccer inmortality.
(You can share your opinion about who YOU think is the best soccer player in the world with the poll at the bottom of the page)
Messi is an incredible player. True, he performs better with the blue and red stripes than he does with the light blue and white stripes, but when you compare the lineup of the two teams, i believe that the reason for that is clear. Another thing worth comparing apart from the players are the coaches: I can't even start to explain how disgusted I am to mention Maradona and Guardiola in he same sentence. Maradona had a great couple of years, but he burned out and he's taking his whole country down with him. Guardiola is a decorated Barcelona hero who came back to coach the team he loved so much, and managed to make world history with it by winning all 6 tournaments that he had at his disposition. It is a known fact that Messi, Though being a confident player, is very affected by the manager's role in the squad. The result? Messi plays amazing for Barcelona, and in the Argentinian national team, he's just another player.
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