Just when it seemed that soccer had become dull and dour, subsumed by commerce, endorsements and politics (and you thought only Indian cricket suffered from this evil), there appeared from nowhere a thing of sublime beauty that left everyone spellbound.
Lionel Messi, the precocious 19 year old Argentine, took 13 touches in, would you believe it, 13 seconds to baffle the entire (well almost) Getafe team and score a goal that would put all soccer cynics to rest. As he waltzed through the opponent defense, the ball dancing to his tune, his black mane flowing like a wild horse and opponents falling around him like nine pins, he bore uncanny resemblance to another of his ilk (in more ways than one), his countryman, the legendary Diego Armando, who scored what is supposed by many as the greatest goal that ever was. Maradona’s goal against the Englishmen was possibly on a higher altitude because of the stakes attached - the stage was the Copa Mundial 1986 and the backdrop of the Falkland Wars left any Argentina-England duel in those times akin to real war. His work of art, 2 decades back, happened before Leo was born but the difference if any stops there. Both are Argentine, both from humble backgrounds, both plied their trade in Barcelona as some point in time in their careers, both primarily left footed, both dwarfs in size but giants in footballing terms, both as far as intuition and soccer ability goes.
Each man received the ball in his own half, close to the right touchline. Each wove his way around some 200 feet (WOW!!!!!) at breathtaking speed, false footing five-six opponents, besides the goalkeeper. Each controlled and moved the ball with his left foot, swerving and producing subtle body feints, but coming from the right side of the park. However, Diego’s final touch to the English goal was left footed while Messi used his right, so acute he had gone while dodging the rival goalkeeper. But all in all, the path traversed, the feints and pauses, the speed, the final culmination, all made the goal a replica in many ways of the original master’s.
While purists will say that young Leo has a lot to do before he scales the dizzy heights of his predecessor, I have a gut feel that he will go a long way. Coming in today’s professional era, having seen loads of talented youngsters go wayward due to erratic lifestyles would be an abject lesson for the injury prone teen to know how and where to tread. Even the great Diego paved his own downfall triggered by drugs and alcohol and has been hospitalized quite often in recent times. Messi’s control on his superb run might have been a shade below Maradona’s but we hope that he will be in greater control on his personal and professional life to be placed in untouchable heights when he has long left the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6_mAzYU69U
Lionel Messi, the precocious 19 year old Argentine, took 13 touches in, would you believe it, 13 seconds to baffle the entire (well almost) Getafe team and score a goal that would put all soccer cynics to rest. As he waltzed through the opponent defense, the ball dancing to his tune, his black mane flowing like a wild horse and opponents falling around him like nine pins, he bore uncanny resemblance to another of his ilk (in more ways than one), his countryman, the legendary Diego Armando, who scored what is supposed by many as the greatest goal that ever was. Maradona’s goal against the Englishmen was possibly on a higher altitude because of the stakes attached - the stage was the Copa Mundial 1986 and the backdrop of the Falkland Wars left any Argentina-England duel in those times akin to real war. His work of art, 2 decades back, happened before Leo was born but the difference if any stops there. Both are Argentine, both from humble backgrounds, both plied their trade in Barcelona as some point in time in their careers, both primarily left footed, both dwarfs in size but giants in footballing terms, both as far as intuition and soccer ability goes.
Each man received the ball in his own half, close to the right touchline. Each wove his way around some 200 feet (WOW!!!!!) at breathtaking speed, false footing five-six opponents, besides the goalkeeper. Each controlled and moved the ball with his left foot, swerving and producing subtle body feints, but coming from the right side of the park. However, Diego’s final touch to the English goal was left footed while Messi used his right, so acute he had gone while dodging the rival goalkeeper. But all in all, the path traversed, the feints and pauses, the speed, the final culmination, all made the goal a replica in many ways of the original master’s.
While purists will say that young Leo has a lot to do before he scales the dizzy heights of his predecessor, I have a gut feel that he will go a long way. Coming in today’s professional era, having seen loads of talented youngsters go wayward due to erratic lifestyles would be an abject lesson for the injury prone teen to know how and where to tread. Even the great Diego paved his own downfall triggered by drugs and alcohol and has been hospitalized quite often in recent times. Messi’s control on his superb run might have been a shade below Maradona’s but we hope that he will be in greater control on his personal and professional life to be placed in untouchable heights when he has long left the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6_mAzYU69U
