Pele: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is not as good as Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini or Alfredo Di Stefano

Brazilian legend Pele has once again raised questions over the greatness of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and says that he has to achieve a lot to be compared with some of the legends of the past.
Messi, winner of the past two Ballon d’Or awards, is widely recognized as the best footballer in the world at the moment. There are also strong suggestions that the 23-year-old is set to become one of the greatest footballers of all-time.
However, Pele has refused to warm up to that belief and recently underlined Messi’s under-par performance for the Argentina national team.
According to Chilean newspaper La Tercera, the former Santos forward has once again raised his concern on the hype surrounding Messi and is quoted as saying: “People like to compare but they seem to have forgotten [Johan] Cruyff, [Michel] Platini and [Alfredo] Di Stefano, who were better than [Lionel] Messi.”
The three-time World Cup winner with Brazil also gave his opinion on the Champions League final and said: “Manchester United are a strong side and are faithful to the English style of football. But I have no doubt that as a team Barcelona are the best in the world.”

Messi scored against United in the final of Europe’s most prestigious club competition in 2008-09 in Barcelona’s 2-0 victory.Search Amazon.com for pele and messiSearch Amazon.com for pele and messi

NFF assures on Argentina star players

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) maintains that it has been given assurances by Argentina Football Association (AFA) that it will present its senior team players in an international friendly against Super Eagles in Abuja on June 1.

Speculation in the local media over the weekend claimed that star men like Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Javier Zanetti, Javier Mascherno, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero have all been omitted from the squad by head coach, Sergio Batista who has reportedly opted for a second string side. NFF general secretary Musa Amadu said the federation was aware of insinuations and speculations in the media about the quality of the team that the South American nation would bring to Abuja, but insisted that the two-time world champions will come with senior team players of note.
“The truth is Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano are playing in the Uefa Champions League final for FC Barcelona against Manchester United at the Wembley on 28th May. That is the day the Argentina team would depart from Buenos Aires for Nigeria, so naturally, you wouldn’t expect those two players to be on the trip.
“The Argentina team has a new coach, in Sergio Batista and is preparing for the Copa America taking place in July. Therefore, you would expect that the new Coach would want to blood a number of new players and see if they can fit into this tactics and plans. That is why there are a number of new players in the team.
“But the Argentina list that I have seen is replete with ‘A’ team players who ply their trade in top leagues in Spain, Portugal, Italy, England, Russia, Ukraine and the like.
We are assuring fans that Argentina would present its very best possible, apart from Messi and Mascherano who are obviously out due to the Champions League final.Nigeria has never defeated Argentina at senior level.Is this the time for Nigeria to achieve this feat?

Lionel Messi - Cristiano Ronaldo Head To Head: Leo & CR7 Smash Scoring Records, But Who Will Win The Pichichi?

How They Played This Week

Who came out on top in the recent round of La Liga action?

Lionel Messi (Barcelona 2-0 Espanyol)  
After overtaking Ronaldo in the Pichichi race exactly a month ago, Messi has now failed to scored in his last two league games to allow the Portuguese to return to the top of the scoring charts.

Even though Leo failed to score, he created numerous openings for his team-mates with his mazy runs and deft flicks. He had just two shots in the end all game and he was presented with his only real scoring chance just before the opening goal when he beat two defenders but dragged his shot wide.

This was the seventh competitive meeting in a row where Messi has failed to score against Espanyol.

Goal.com Player Ratings Comment: Everything but a goal tonight. Showed quick feet around the penalty area and was a constant threat. Unselfishly gave the ball to his team-mates rather than going on his own. Great touch to take the ball down from out the air, and showed his class with a flick to Iniesta.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Sevilla 2-6 Real Madrid)

It was the second time this season that Ronaldo managed to score four goals in a single game as he inspired his side to a second consecutive six-goal league win away from home.

CR7 scored his first against Sevilla on the half hour mark when he smashed in a half volley from close range following Pepe's cushioned header. He grabbed his second a little over 30 minutes later when he pounced on a stray pass by Alvaro Negredo to easily slot past goalkeeper Javi Varas.

Ronaldo completed his sixth hat-trick of the season when he latched onto Mesut Ozil's through pass before rifling a low shot into the net. He put the icing on the cake 15 minutes from time with a close-range strike from Karim Benzema's cutback.

Goal.com Player Ratings Comment: Voted Top of the Match by Goal.com editors and readers. Four goals for the evening and a general menacing performance from start to end. Not the greatest defence he will face but was ruthless in his finishing and looked dangerous every time he was on the ball.

Individual Match Stats

	Lionel Messi (vs Espanyol)	Cristiano Ronaldo (vs Sevilla)
Goals	0	4
Shots (On Target)	2 (0)	11 (6)
Assists	0	0
Balls Lost	9	15
Balls Recovered	0	3
Fouls Suffered	3	3
Goal.com Rating	6.5	9.0

Pichichi Record Breakers
Messi and Ronaldo are no strangers to smashing records. On April 23, Leo became the first player in Spanish football history to score 50 goals in a single season, and he has since gone on to add two more.

Last Saturday night, Cristiano surpassed his own personal best of 42 goals in a single campaign as his quadruple against Sevilla brought his tally to 46 this term, 33 in La Liga alone. He is now just one goal away from equalling Messi's mark of 34 goals last season, the third-highest tally in Pichichi history.

With three more rounds to go, Ronaldo now only needs five more to match the all-time record of 38 goals in one season. If Messi goes on to claim the top scorer's prize this year, however, he will become the first player since Hugo Sanchez in 1987-88 to win the trophy in back-to-back seasons.

As records prepare to tumble, we look at some of the all-time achievements in the history of the Pichichi award.

MOST GOALS IN A SINGLE SEASON

1.	Telmo Zarra (Athletic Bilbao)	1950-51	38
-	Hugo Sanchez (Real Madrid)	1989-90	38
2.	Baltazar (Atletico Madrid)	1988-89	35
3.	Hugo Sanchez (Real Madrid)	1986-87	34
-	Ronaldo (Barcelona)	1996-97	34
-	Lionel Messi (Barcelona)	2009-10	34

MOST PICHICHI TROPHIES

1.	Telmo Zarra (Athletic Bilbao)	6
2.	Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)	5
-	Quini (Sporting Gijon/Barcelona)	5
-	Hugo Sanchez (Atletico/Real Madrid)	5
3.	Ferenc Puskas (Real Madrid)	4

MOST CONSECUTIVE WINS

1.	Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)	4
2.	Hugo Sanchez (Real Madrid)	4
3	Isidro Langara (Oviedo)	3
-	Telmo Zarra (Athletic Bilbao)	3
4.	Quini (Sporting Gijon/Barcelona)	4

MO

LAST FIVE WINNERS

GOALS

2009-10	Lionel Messi (Barcelona)	34
2008-09	Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid)	32
2007-08	Dani Guiza (Mallorca)	27
2006-07	Ruud van Nistelrooy (R. Madrid)	25
2005-06	Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona)	26

Story of a Season Who's had the best campaign so far in La Liga?

Season Stats

Minutes Played	2892	2775
Goals Penalties   Free kicks  First goals	31 4 1 12	33* 7 2 6
Total Shots (On target)	143 (78)	230 (89)
Assists	19	8*
Passes	2262(team total: 27,722)	1296 (team total: 19,128)
Passes Completed	1887 (team total: 24,304)	919 (team total: 15,426)
Fouls Suffered	54	80
Fouls Committed	21	22
Goal.com's Season Average Player Ratings	7.50	7.23

*Marca, who awards the Trofeo Pichichi, has credited Ronaldo with 34 goals (and 7 assists)
Goal Counter
Keep track of Messi and Ronaldo's goal haul in all competitive club matches what is expected to be a record-shattering 2010-11 season...

	APPS	GOALS
LIONEL MESSI	53	52
CRISTIANO RONALDO	51	46

The 2009 Champions League final, which will be repeated at Wembley in 22 days time, resulted in a hugely disappointing loss to Barcelona in the final. Rant looks back on that final and wonders whether Manchester United will make the same tactical mistakes again?
Both teams lined up as expected; United missed out on Darren Fletcher after Scotland captain’s unfortunate booking in the semi-final with Arsenal. Meanwhile, an injury crisis forced Barcelona into fielding a makeshift back-four including Yaya Touré in central defence.
For United, Cristiano Ronaldo led the line, with Sir Alex Ferguson deploying Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung in wide positions, aiming to contain Barça’s fullbacks. Barça used Lionel Messi in the now familiar “false 9” role, forcing Samuel Eto’o wide.
Surprisingly, United initially lined up in 4-4-2 with Ryan Giggs playing as a supporting striker – it was perhaps an attempt to press and take the game to Barça, although Giggs floated too much to get a sense of how United lined up at any given time.
United started the game brightly though with Victor Valdes saving an excellent Ronaldo free kick early in the game. After all, the Reds had been pre-match favourites.
Eto’o and Messi kept changing position as game settled into a pattern, which caused United considerable problems. Ultimately when Messi dropped deep in the ninth minute, not a single United midfielder picked him up. The Argentinean pulled Andreas Iniesta’s marker out of position, which afforded the Spanish international a free dribble, eventually allowing Eto’o to score past Edwin van der Sar at the near post.
The goal could have easily prevented had United maintained a more disciplined shape.
United persisted with a 4-4-2, (see figure 1, below) which Barça negated by simply passing around the oncoming Red midfielders. The shape also meant that Park and Rooney had to form a second line of defence with United on the back foot. It took the pair away from Barcelona’s full-backs, enabling Puyol and Sylvinho’s influence on the game to grow.

Three greatest footballers of all time: Pele, Maradona and Messi

TWO SOUTH American football loving nations, Brazil and Argentina, have produced numerous world class footballers over the years. However, football is one of the most popular games in all European countries as well as other continents too.

Amongst hundreds of great footballers from across the globe, Pele, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi are perhaps the best ever football players we have seen.

Football player of the century, Pele, played his first international match at the age of 16 years and 9 months against Argentina and scored his first international goal. Pele played four FIFA World Cup football from 1958 to 1970. In the final of the 1958 World Cup final against Sweden, he scored two goals.

In World Cups he began to wear jersey no 10. After Pele, jersey no 10 became the most popular number in every sports event. Great players in all the sports wear jersey no. 10.

Pele also played club football for Santos and New York Cosmos for around 20 years. In his career the King Pele scored 1281 goals in 1363 games.

Diego Maradona, who is also considered as one of the greatest football players of all time, appeared in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 tournament. In 1986 FIFA World Cup football, he captained Argentina and won the tournament after victory over east Germany in the final.

In the same World Cup, his goal against England from 66 yard was voted "The Goal of the Century". In the 1986 football World Cup, Maradona won the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player.

Maradona played club football for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys. He played 16 times as captain of the Argentinian national team, which is still a World Cup-record.

In the current scenario Lionel Messi is the world's best contemporary player, has won twice FIFPro World Player of the Year in 2009, 2010 and FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009. Messi also represented Argentina national team in 2008 Olympics games, in which Argentina won the gold.

In 2004 Lionel Messi played for Barcelona and became the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona. From the last two seasons he has scored maximum number of goals for his club Barcelona. Lionel Messi will appear for Barcelona against Manchester United in final of Champions League 2010-11 on Saturday, May 28 at Wembley Stadium in London.

Diego Maradona has declared Lionel Messi his successor. Due to his ability and playing style many have drawn comparisons of Messi to football legend Maradona.

However, there is are no comparison amongst these three superstars, but these three footballers have dominated world football in the last six decades.

Messi best player of all time

Lionel Messi will go down as the greatest player in footballing history, better even than Diego Maradona and Pele, according to the former Argentina and Tottenham midfielder Ossie Ardiles, who claims Barcelona’s Messi is similar to their fellow countryman Maradona – except better.

Ardiles, who helped nurture Maradona for the national side, said on Tuesday: “I think there is only one player you can compare with Messi, and that is Maradona, and in many ways they are very similar. But for some time I have thought that Diego could never be surpassed, and nor could Pele, but no longer. I would now say that Lionel Messi will go down in history as the No 1 player of all time, the best that there ever was.

“The big difference is that Maradona played in Argentina, then in Italy, while Pele stayed in Brazil, and during their time the pressures were less intense than they are now. Messi is under pressure all the time, and has to play in incredibly high-intensity games all of the time, the Champions League being the perfect example.”

European football’s governing body, Uefa, dispatched the Italian refereeing great Pierluigi Collina to monitor Belgian match official Frank de Bleeckere’s handling of Tuesday night’s Champions League semi-final second leg between Messi’s side and Real Madrid. Uefa named Collina, its head of referees and a former World Cup final referee, as its official observer at the Nou Camp.

Uefa’s disciplinary panel will meet on Friday to examine six charges arising from the first-leg match. Real’s manager, Jose Mourinho, faces further punishment for his comments during and after the match. The Real midfielder Pepe also faces a longer ban for his red-card challenge, and Madrid have been charged over their fans throwing objects and invading the pitch. having settled the dust on real madrid, will messi on his co-horts deal similar blow to man-U on may 28th ?

Barcelona's Lionel Messi could miss return-leg against Real Madrid

Messi suffered a minor tear during his man of the match performance against Real Madrid, and will miss at least one game.

Barcelona wizard Lionel Messi could miss next week's Champions League decider with Real Madrid after suffering a minor muscle tear during the 2-0 win in Wednesday's semifinal first-leg.

 The Argentine playmaker, who scored both goals in the Bernabeu including an astounding individual effort to put the Cules one step away from the final, was in some discomfort after the match and was checked by medical staff.

The doctors discovered a tear as well as several areas of bruising, product of a brutal encounter with Jose Mourinho's men.

'La Pulga' will definitely be ruled out of Saturday's clash with Real Sociedad, and will be wrapped in cotton wool by Barcelona to give him the best chance of making the second-leg in the Camp Nou.

Indications are that he should play against the Merengues, although with a two-goal cushion the temptation will be for the club to rest or bench him to ensure the injury is not aggravated for a potential final against Schalke or Manchester United. will barcelona crew be willing to bench messi for the return at the nou camp?