Saturday, April 21, 2007

Dare I say... Better than Maradona?

The goal that is, not the player.

I'm talking about Lionel Messi, and his superb solo goal against Getafe this week.

Shades of Maradona's 1986 World Cup goal against England (not that goal, the other one), Messi's superb solo run for half the length of the pitch, twisting and turning past defenders and finally the keeper oozes quality.

Take a look for yourself here...

Messi

... and for comparison, and a worthy trip down memory lane, check out 'the original' ...

God

Messi? I'd say that was quite 'tidy'.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

It's not the goal, but rather the competition.

That is, it's a very good goal but it was scored in a cup competition no one really cares about against a team that is hardly famous, while Maradona's was scored in the world cup.

To my mind this is what makes Giggs' goal against the Arsenal in extra-time of the 1999 FA Cup semifinal, with his team down to 10 men, a truly great goal like Maradona's but unlike Messi's.

All 3 shared a mazy run from midfield in which 5, 6, 7 men were beat and the keeper made to look foolish, but the stage was much bigger for the Giggs' goal, and even great for Maradona.

Smart said...

Its an excellent point James, and one that is often overlooked.

However, I would question the quality of the defending in all 3 of the goals you mention.

Watch in amazement how nobody puts in a tackle against Maradona, before he beats a not so agile Shilton.

With Giggs, it was in the later stages of extra-time, and again, a challenge from an Arsenal player would have been nice.

And for sure we could apply the same theory to Messi's goal.

For me, however, we shouldnt take anything away from any of those goals and just admire it for what it is - a great goal.

They can only beat what is out there in front of them, and after all if it was that easy to do against lower opposition, then we would see that every week.

It isn't and we don't.

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