Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

HAMPERS | Messi Remains in Top Form

HAMPERS+%7C+Messi+Remains+in+Top+Form
PAPER MAGAZINE

Over a decade ago, Lionel Messi started to receive praise as one of the most talented athletes of all time.

At age 20, he was already Football Club Barcelona’s star player. By age 22, he won his first Ballon d’Or — soccer’s most prestigious individual award — before taking it home the next three years in a row.

However, in recent years, Messi has largely been denied the accolades that seemed so routine early in his career.

He has lost the Ballon d’Or to Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo four out of the last five years. This season, he was completely left off the three-man shortlist for the 2018 FIFA Men’s Player of the Year Award; Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah were nominated instead.

Messi’s success with Barcelona has been overshadowed by rival Real Madrid’s three consecutive Champions League victories. Though he used to draw frequent comparisons to legendary fellow Argentine Diego Maradona, Messi, now 31, has been criticized for failing to deliver a World Cup or continental championship to his home country.

The fact that Messi’s teams have not recently captured the most prestigious trophies in club and international competitions should not divert soccer fans away from a more important reality. He continues to outperform every other player in the world.

Amid Messi’s slight decline in recognition, he sent a powerful reminder this week that he is the same sensational playmaker he has always been.

Messi delivered a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory over Philips Sport Vereniging in the first game of the Champions League on Tuesday. He scored a mesmerizing free kick that curled just inside the top right corner, a carefully placed volley into the bottom left corner and a weak-footed strike over the defending goalkeeper’s outstretched leg.

It was the type of performance that any other player would have hailed as the greatest of their career. Yet for Messi, scoring such stunning goals is normal form.

He now holds the record for most Champions League hat-tricks with eight. Ronaldo trails with seven, and nobody else has more than three. Although Messi’s 103 career Champions League goals falls short of Ronaldo’s 120, Messi reached the 100-mark in 123 games compared to Ronaldo’s 144 games.

Messi is also fresh off a season in which he led La Liga, Spain’s top division, in nearly every conceivable category including goals, assists, dribbles, chances created and Man of the Match awards, an honor for the best player in a match.

During a year when Ronaldo made headlines for a record transfer move to Juventus, Salah had a surprise breakout season for Liverpool and 19-year-old Frenchman Kylian Mbappe became soccer’s most intriguing youngster with a World Cup victory, Messi has been quietly playing the sport at his very best.

It is not only Messi’s statistical dominance but also his style of play that deserves continued recognition. His speed has not wavered with age, his dribbling skills are a nightmare for defenders, and his shot placement is devastatingly accurate.

It may be easy to occasionally forget about Messi’s extraordinarily rare talent given he is perhaps the world’s most reserved superstar. His personality is as unimposing as his 5-foot-7 physical stature. Messi doesn’t do pre-game news conferences like most star players and rarely even speaks in commercials.

Nevertheless, the athletic attributes that catapulted Messi to global stardom remain features of a legendary career that is far from over. Those who follow today’s dynamic soccer news cycle should take a moment to admire the player who continues to be the greatest of his generation.

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