The Lionel Messi World Expecting Too Much From Argentina’s World Cup 2010
Lionel Messi is only 22 years old, but in spite of his young age, he has achieved so much at club level. He is surprisingly yet to excel in the national team of Argentina, but his fans and the world believe that the FIFA World Player of the Year can receive forgiveness from his home supporters through a wonderful performance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Is Lionel Messi too much loaded with expectations ahead of the tournament? This is the question we look at in this article.
Time and time again, Messi has been praised by the press and great football personalities who regard him as a “much” better player than soccer legend Diego Maradona. The current Argentina coach won the 1986 World Cup at the age of 23 in one of the most controversial manners, and although he refuses to accept that his popularity came out of the controversy in the match against England, he agrees that Messi could make a greater achievement for his country in order to become the “greatest” player in the history of football.
Lionel Messi, a great performer
With Barcelona’s unprecedented treble in 2009 and 3 more cups before the end of that year, Messi has won just about everything a club player could ever win. From individual honors to club trophies, the Ballon d’Or winner is deeply aware of the success which makes a player become an idol.
Over the years, Messi has repeatedly been compared to Maradona as a result of his resembling moves and individual achievements. The present UEFA Club Player of the Year has proved to be a mature player this season, having enhanced his goalscoring abilities, to the extent that he now has reasons to expect La Liga Top Scorer and the European Golden Boot awards to fall into his hands.
He is at the moment the Castrol Rankings leader ahead of former Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo; whereas he is also the richest player in the world with an annual income somewhat bigger than David Beckham’s annual profits. While he was growing up, Messi also explored the greatness of a young player for his country’s U-20 youth side, having won the 2005 FIFA Youth Championship and clinching the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot in that tournament.
Moreover, Messi played for Argentina in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and deservedly, he helped his side progress to the final, only to beat Nigeria and take the trophy home. Perhaps, these facts show how impressively Lionel Messi can shine for his country on certain occasions, but as his attainments were obtained at youth level, fans now wonder whether he will be able to shift his success at senior international level.
Is Lionel Messi “the one”?
This is hard to answer. One might say that Messi just needs to get the comprehension of Coach Maradona who is guilty of not creating a well-organized side, but on the other hand, members of Los Albicelestes should not forget the wishes of their lovers. Nevertheless, having seeing the greatness of “El Mesias” in his club, Argentine fans now want Lionel Messi to lead their team to glory in South Africa at the 2010 World Cup.
Of course, this is where the huge node lies, seeing that Messi isn’t powerful enough to lift and carry a side on his shoulders to win cups. Just like most players, the Barcelona winger is dependent on the contributions from his team mates, and lack of wisdom in the building of the Argentina team finally destroys his display, turning him into an unproductive and “useless” player.
Come the 2010 World Cup, the Argentina national team will not have the right to give excuses to the public, should they experience a disappointing run in the competition–and Messi knows how difficult his task will be. Probably everyone saw his out-of-this-world performance against Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League at the Camp Nou when he scored 4 unbeatable goals to sink the Gunners, and everyone understood that on that specific night, it was not Barcelona who won against Arsenal but it was Messi.
This is exactly the show Argentina will want to have at the 2010 World Cup, for it is undeniable that such a display from Messi in addition to good contributions from his country mates will transform the Albicelestes into invincible soldiers. Can Messi live up to expectations and perform in the name of football’s “Messiah”?
Failure to appear as the “Playstation Performer” in South Africa will totally bury his name in Argentina, while success in bringing the cup back to South America after 6 World Cups since the “Hand of God” will seal Messi’s name as the best of all times. Finally, completing his task will be his sole order, as he tries to unlock the gates to the new world for Manager Maradona, Los Albicelestes, and even football in general
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