We all know Lionel messi has won 2012 award I say he already looks set on winning 2013 as well He just set the record for goals in a season (that African guy doesn't count cause defenses in Africa are so amateur compared to Spanish league) And will likely break his own record in 2013, Ronaldo is not even close in goals, in fact falcao is ahead of him in the league Messi for 5 straight ballon dors, The greatest of all time
I agree with the OP. Messi is GOAT. No offense to Maradona but he played in an era where Paul Gascoigne was a top player. So now that Messi is GOAT, the only question remaining is, who is the most clutch player of all-time? IMO its Maradona. Messi needs at least one WC to be the Most Clutch of All-time. Discuss.
i hope you are being sarcastic, and Paul Gascoigne was a very talented player, sad he was born with a shit brain(not footballing brain, he had great football intelligence) and in a nation where players like him are misused. Anyways lets not get into this as I think you are being sarcastic or using a buzzword said by some stupid poster. sorry but I doubt Maradona was most clutch player. His performances are meh at continental tournaments for his club teams.
dude Paul Gascoine? there was lothar mathaues, Laudrup, Van Basten etc plenty of top players when Maradona was around, more so then today, where its just Lio Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Iniesta,..Xavi.. but then again Messi being so great just makes everyone else look Meh... and Iniesta and Xavi, half the reason why they are "great" is because they play with messi and pad their stats with him breaking numerous scoring records every year. LIONEL MESSI, is the greatest of all time and Pele and the Brazilians will facepalm hard at the world cup in 2014 when Argentina and Messi tango their way to world cup #3.
I think FIFA confirmed Messi's most goals in a calendar year record? either way bottom line is Messi scored a never before seen amount of goals the last year in TOP LEVEL Competition not brazilian bush leagues, or african bambata leagues LIONEL MESSI EL MEJOR JUGADOR DEL TODOS LOS TIEMPOS
Messi's record is a record for a professional footballer. I mean I'm sure there is some 12 year-old kid in some parking lot in Brazil who scores like 5 goals a day while playing against the kids in his neighbourhood. Doesn't count. Neither does the Zambia guy count. And no offense to Zambia, but we're talking about a country where they can't even keep track how old people are. So consider me skeptical about this 107 goal record.
LOLOL once again all you guys make no sense.. if it is a world record you cant just choose wich leagues cound and which ones doesnt... for it to count as a worldwide record you have to count all leagues if not is just a record for players from la liga []__[]
It just hurts Brazilians too much to give an Argentine credit for anything, doesn't it? I'm sure it was a Brazilian who found this Zambian record, just like it was some Brazilian who took a day off work last week "to count 89 goals" for Zico in 1979.
Lol Only to be Butthurt when messi surpassed 89 goals ready Can't wait to see how Butthurt brazilians get when messi leads Argentina to world cup on their own turf
Because if Messi keeps going as he does, then it will become Messi + Maradona vs Pele, meaning 2 of the 3 greatest players of all time will be Argentineans......
You can call him GOAT but the real dictionary said "how to spell the word Pele? G O D If you never been there in the 80's suggest go to wiki and SEARCH for great names: Zico, Platini Rummenigge, Basten Gullit Rijkaard Mathauss Koeman Passarella Scirea, Baresi Gentilee, Bergomi Maldini Conti Rossi Tresor Tigana Gascoigne Brehme ..... ALl as TOP10 to 100 Now look who Messi face and played with? Vidic, Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Iniesta Clichy, ACole, Busque ... LOL all NON rated ... may be Xavi and Iniesta will be lucky to feature in TOP150?
Rating Gazza over Xavi? Probably the worst example of nostalgia ever exhibited in this forum, and that's saying something! Tell me what club Gazza was playing for when he was Xavi's current age? Today's players are in great physical shape and the game is more sophisticated. You can't just drink beer and party every day and expect to succeed. Ask Ronaldinho. Gazza was just an out-of-shape Gattuso. Not worthy to lace up Yaya Toure's or Xabi Alonso's cleats, nevermind Xavi 's.
Great physical shape? LOL are you sure? The last time I saw Messi Xavi, Iniesta, Carzola, Silva , Aguero, Tevez , Suarez, ... all were < 5'9 and they all are best players at moment LOL It's so clear that you have NEVER watched Gascoigne ... a talented English player at time! I let Comme or Lanman as English teams expert to answer you about Gatusso = Gazza. I listed all the names Zico, Gullit Platini Rumenigge, Keegan Socrates Falcao, Cerezo ... in Maradona time to easily challenge and leave Xavi on the back seat ... (you were the one who mentioned Gascoigne)
yeah right .. say that Xavi Iniesta or even Messi are as "great physical shape" as CR7, Ibra, Balotelli ... LOL I bet they would say IF and ONLY IF they would have same physical aspect they will be even "greater" ...
Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi don't have the same physique as the players you just mentioned, but that doesn't mean they aren't in great physical shape. In Messi's case, he has to be in great physical shape to be as agile as he is and have that burst.
This garbage again. Pipiolo and you seem to never learn. Do you understand that some of the players you've named peaked nearly a decade apart? Tresor retired before Maldini even started his career. "SEARCH for great names in the 00s: Batistuta, Romario and Neymar!"