He came, he saw, he conquered.
Most importantly, Diego Maradona entertained, with football at his feet and cigar in his mouth. May D10S now get the peace he never quite enjoyed while alive.
One thing the footballing magician’s untimely demise last month reignited was the age-old debate of whether Argentina’s favourite son was the greatest to kick a football.
That accolade belongs to his countryman Lionel Messi.
Here are at least five reasons why.
LONGEVITY
Messi has been arguably the best player on the planet for 15 years. Maradona’s peak period was between 1985 and 1990. Messi wins comfortably.
FASTER GAME, FITTER OPPONENTS
Maradona was shoulders above the rest when amateur players were still getting run-outs at World Cups. Messi towers above everyone in a period when the presence of sports science has made footballers well-toned specimens. And yet, most can’t get near the alien.
MEDIA SCRUTINY
Maradona played during an era when he could have had five bad games and nobody would have noticed. A poor 45 minutes for Messi would have pundits around the world talking about an impending crisis. Still, hardly anyone remembers the 33-year-old ever having a forgettable half.
Granted, Messi was contained during the 4-0 Champions League semifinal defeat to Liverpool in 2019 but that was at a fortress of a stadium against an unstoppable machine, he nevertheless, terrorised in the first leg at Nou Camp.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
No World Cup winner’s medal? So what? Messi has four Champions League medals. With all the best players, it is without a shadow of a doubt a competition higher in quality than the World Cup, which Messi almost singlehandedly won for Argentina against a superior German team in 2014.
No Argentine has had the temerity to drag La Albiceleste to a final on Brazilian soil prior to that. Maradona tried and failed at Copa America 1989.
CRISTIANO RONALDO
Maradona had the throne all to himself in the 1980s. Messi has had Cristiano Ronaldo snapping at his heels for the best part of 15 years … but the Portuguese never quite managed to usurp the Barcelona playmaker.
Fans may be split on who the better footballer is but most fellow pros who played with or against Messi almost always never go for Ronaldo.
In short, both are immortals – Maradona is a flawed genius, Messi a mellowed extraterrestrial.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
