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| photo by Saadick Dhansay |
- by Hiten Mandalia, writing from West London
He has won everything with Barcelona, scoring over 50 goals for the club in the 2010/2011 season, he's helped them win all six trophies that were on offer to win for Barcelona. Along with that, he has shown the world his amazing dribbling skills, how the ball sticks to his feet, his quality individual goals which has made the whole world admire his talent. Messi is one of the players that comes along once every generation, and we're fortunate to witness arguably one of the greatest players of al time.
However, for that to happen, he has to prove his point on the international stage with Argentina at major tournaments. All is well scoring in the Champions League Final, in big heated 'El Classico's' with Real Madrid and local derbies, but it's at the World Cup where all great players are judged. The likes of Pele, Maradonna, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Ronaldo and Zidane were all judged on how they performed with their respective countries at major international countries.
Messi has proven that he has the ability to make an impact in any game, but the international stage is a new whole game compared to cub level. I remember a pundit comparing international football to chess as the pace of a game can change in an instant. Messi had a poor world cup in South Africa in 2010 but he had a far better season with Barcelona.
If Messi wants to be considered one of the greats, there's no doubt that he can be one, but he has to transcend his club form onto a much bigger scale. If he scores at World Cups and wins it with Argentina, then he will be considered a great, as him impact to the team will be invaluable. For that to happen, Messi needs support from his Argentinian team mates. It's possible, but the question is, how long can he wait until he wins a World Cup before people start questioning 'Has still got it in him?', 'Is he getting too old?', 'Has he started losing it'?
We may not have to wait until Brazil 2014 to see if Messi can produce. A dazzling performance in the Copa America can help Argentina win the tournament, which could lead to a World Cup victory in the nation of their great rival, Brazil.
