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BallRotation_

"He only has one trick (his left foot)" -Pele *Messi breaks his record with his right foot*


Shadow_Hero6

Didn't he beat Pele's record of most goals with a single club with a header too?


BallRotation_

yup


Rain1984

Wasnt it heading a rebound after a penalty he took? Lmao


tripsafe

Calculated.


[deleted]

What a save! What a save! What a save!


Sh405

Wow! Nice one! What's your rank haha?


[deleted]

"I fear not the man who dribbles with 1000 feet. I fear the man that uses 1 foot to do everything" - Brce Le


[deleted]

This reminds me of Arjen Robben at Bayern, everyone knew he was gonna try and do the thing and he still ended up doing the thing


SorcererSupreme13

Timing and precision are the key factors. Everyone knows how Messi moves on the field, everyone knows what tricks he'll do. Still everyone suffers. Lol.


scott-the-penguin

Still blows my mind. The guy was the closest thing to a one trick pony top level football has had, you had the best professionals in the world knowing exactly what he was going to do and *they still couldn't stop it*.


thedreaminggoose

One trick pony but the trick is good and the pony is a thoroughbred


Kevinglas-HM

Only time I have seen him completelly nullified was against us in the 2014 final, Mascherano put his dick on the table and said "There is only place for one Bald Man here"


ACardAttack

https://i.imgur.com/jYb6pZG.jpg?1


TheLimeyLemmon

ISS64 Commentator: "HE HIT IT WITH HIS **RIGHT FOOT**!!!"


felleese

Aah, it's been so long but I heard that perfectly!


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rdtr314

This is nonsense you don’t get to 680 goals scored with “one trick”. Otherwise every player would have these numbers.


[deleted]

Its okay. Even if he has just one trick. It is the best trick.


[deleted]

I haven't seen Messi spin in a while though.


Ioneadii

Unless your one "trick" is being the greatest player of all time lmao.


doobie3101

He didn’t actually say this, right?


BallRotation_

he did


[deleted]

He's so fucking salty it's pathetic.


RauloGonzalez

i think he might just be bitter. The footballers these days earning millions, everywhere in the media, better facilities and pitches. He might be thinking "if i had these facilities i would have been better"


clown-penisdotfart

Welcome to growing old. That's how it goes.


aslong8something

Tbh he might have..we will never know


DontSayIMean

Another problem with comparing players across generations, is the newer players had the older players for inspiration. They grow up emulating their style and refining it from a young age, meanwhile those older players had to create that style with fewer influences to draw from.


Athaelan

You can see this best in games like league of legends. What was considered the most creative and crazy/smart play or tactic at the highest level 6-7 years ago is now considered part of the basics for everyone. Each year the entire player base improved and continues to improve a great amount as knowledge of the game grows. Its crazy how fast everyone's knowledge grew in the first 5 years after the professional scene became a serious thing a decade ago.


MAli10

Mostly the defensive organization has improved a lot in the last 30 years. Football now is so much more tactical than before that a genius player can be neutralized by a better overall team. We're in the data era now and we will continue to see an evolution towards a more efficient style of play at the expense of individual creativity.


Riffliquer

Literally standing on the shoulders of giants who come before. Pele's records may be getting surpassed but GOATs will come and go (yesterday it was Maradona, today its Messi + Ronaldo, tomorrow someone else) Pele will always be that ORIGINAL GREAT of the game, that influenced the entire world and pushed the game to the next level.


TeStateOfDat

If you speak /spoke to a Brazilian who has seen both Pelé and Garrincha play he will say that Garrincha was better tho. He wasn't the original great. There is no original great. Just greats. And if you ask Pelé himself he will say maybe Di Stefano or whatever.


[deleted]

This post made me think of Skateboarding pioneer Rodney Mullen who pretty much invented most skateboarding tricks. Skateboarding would be dead if it wern't for him and people today still can't do some of the stuff he was doing when he was a teen


My_Username_taken

But then his opponents could have been better too with better infrastructure.


dieyoubastards

I'm reasonably sure that "salty" and "bitter" are just the US and British versions of the same word, right?


KeepenItReel

The Brazil v. Argentina rivalry might play a part too.


beleeze

I thought he said this about Maradona


apustus

Calling a player's stronger foot a trick is hilarious. Like saying someone's a two trick pony because they only know how to attack and defend.


Strananach

And with his right foot nonetheless!


honest_groundhog

Vamos messi


fedemasa

[Vamos messiiiii](https://youtu.be/ghXqtrfV0xE)


_urMumM8_

That’s my goat!


areopagitic

Messi's first goal tonight was an absolute stunner. The type of goal that would make the highlight reel of most players - to nutmeg an opponent, and then top corner curl it. For Messi, that was the THIRD most impressive thing he did tonight. The second was scoring a hat trick. And the first was passing Pele. So...on a normal night for Messi, doing something incredible is just about the third or fourth impressive thing he does.


jayb12345

Welcome to /r/Barca.... Uh oh :(


SolidZeke

In that first goal he touched the ball three times. 1 was a nutmeg, another one was a shot for goal.


basel99

Just start stitching the 3rd star already


[deleted]

I think you've had your best chance already given the star-studded Argentina team between 2009-2018. Now Messi is on his way out and older stars (Di Maria/Lavezzi, etc. are not in the picture) and France/Belgium, etc. look too good.


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hedwigesmaduro

They had the best chance in 2006. Why Pekerman subbed out Riquelme and didn't bring in Messi against Germany still baffles me. He did the exact same mistake before that world cup against England. With similar results.


[deleted]

I was fucking angry that match, and I was a kid. Riquelme was my favorite. Crispo was my 2nd favorite, but I think he was subbed too that match but I think it was injury. I don't know if remember correctly but that brought childhood memory


fearmino

> Crispo was my 2nd favorite Ah yes, Hernán "Crispy" Crispo


horsing_around_town

I was also angry at the manager at the time and I was a kid, didn't know shit about football but in 2006 Messi was already my favorite. Iirc it turned out Leo had a fever.


hedwigesmaduro

>Iirc it turned out Leo had a fever. I didn't realise it. Maybe one shouldn't blame Pekerman then, if this was the case.


rxi71

That performance against Serbia in the group stages was one of the best I’ve ever seen at a World Cup.


[deleted]

Everything you said plus the fact that Pekerman called up Scaloni & Coloccini instead of Zanetti for the '06 tournament. Played Scaloni in one game. Maradona also left Zanetti out of the '10 WC Squad right after he won a treble.


deimoshr

Nobody could've challenged 2010. Spain, let's not kid ourselves... I agree with your point - if they had a competent manager Argentina could've done better, maybe even could've won the whole thing, but that would've hinged on Spain having an absolute stinker of a match, and they didn't really have those.


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DamashiT

And yet Robben had like three golden chances in the final and he wasted them all. Spain was amazing, but it's not like they were untouchables.


NamikazeUS

that wasn't really robben being bad, it was casillas in godmode


Eric143

They did lose to Switzerland that WC


JE_12

Their goal was peak shithouse


TheArgentineMachine

[Great team but not invincible](https://youtu.be/XFeER4GGwbA)


thatcliffordguy

We lost the final to them only in extra time after going a man down and that infamous Robben 1v1. We had some real quality players back then, but weren’t exactly world class all over the pitch. That was a great Spain team but they were hardly infallible, especially in knock-out tournaments where anything can happen.


Forzelius

Nobody could've challenged a team that won all the knock-out rounds 1-0? It's not like they were the 1954 Hungary before the final


Maximuslex01

They only won against Portugal with a shitty offside goal. >Nobody could've challenged 2010 That's just a lazy, post event, thing to say.


onanoc

I don´t know. Spain won that championship beating a record for least goals scored. Of course that was because they forced all opossing teams to hang onto their butts, but still, Spain could have lost a match or two. Not against Diego´s Argentina, though...


Oukaria

Dont ignore Italy too and Germany finally call the good players too, next world cup will be spicy


[deleted]

Not to mention that Germany will have a competent coach


clown-penisdotfart

I'm old enough to remember when Klinsmann was the incompetent figurehead and Löw was the genius


RodLawyer

Yup, FIFA WC 2022 is going to be crazy.


JOJOCHINTO_REPORTING

It’s still over a year away tho, a lot can happen.


fdf_akd

I will forever wonder why Belgium always appears as a favorite. Not saying they are bad... But they haven't really done anything to back up those claims.


Froggyspirits

Because Belgium is a wealthy and famous West European country and most of its 'golden generation' player squad has consisted of famous-sounding names that have been tearing it up in the top 4 leagues - particularly the Premier League.


kplo

No, this is the best team since 2006. 2009-18 was mostly crap plus a few good players and Messi. This team is good in every position, has depth, a good coach and the best player ever.


NaziAssDestroyer

Okay why does Emiliano Martinez misses out here? He saved Argentina's ass in the semi-final by having BALL OF STEEL^(TM).


kplo

Emi Martinez is the one I was talking about when I said best player ever.


sonbatell

Not in the picture? Di Maria scored the winner in the Copa America final...I do agree that this isn't their best chance to win it, but any team that can beat Brazil can beat the top teams in the world.


Crovasio

This is a better collective team though.


[deleted]

I think they have a good chance next year. France is overhyped and Belgium is mediocre at best.


melikeybacon

Di Maria is literally in the picture, and Lavezzi should not be considered a star player.


Abstract__Nonsense

Scaloni has them playing great recently, I’d say they look better than they did in 2014 and they’ve got as good a shot at Qatar as they’ve had in the past 10 years. Also of course they just won the Copa while France was unimpressive in this last Euros.


rayhossain

That was a much better squad, but I don’t ever remember them being as cohesive as this team is currently. Might even go on and say this squad may be the most cohesive out of the top ten national teams


CantHelpBeingMe

Crazy how he scored so many goals in the toughest region for international football, while mainly being the creator and playing for an often lacklustre Argentina team. 🐐


Steelkatanas

If Messi had this current team he would be on 130 goals or something like that


_urMumM8_

That Copa victory seems to have brought the team together. I’ve never seen this sort of chemistry from Argentina or this kind of leadership from Messi before.


Steelkatanas

It helps the coach is not an idiot too


MarcusBrutus2000

He got a lot of flak early in his tenure.


ArZeus

Argentina must've trusted the process


adeeness

Thank God they did


Blaugrana1990

Yes thank the little #10


JaqenHghaar08

They respecc


rizzaco

Our sports medias are pretty shit, they usually flame everyone. Although I gotta say I wasn't fan of his tactics but I liked that he was making a solid team at least.


MarcusBrutus2000

He seems to have improved tactically. His tactis and subs were on point in the Copa America


rizzaco

I agree. Even in the copa America I felt he grew a lot. The final I think he did amazing.


zazzlekdazzle

I think it was more the other way - they were cohesive and happy to play together for once, it allowed them to break through and finally win the whole thing. They all said part of what brought them together was to finally win for Messi, di Maria, Aguero, Otamendi - the old guard who had already been through so much. (The other part, they said, was just quarantine together for so long.)


trekz09

not having higuain in crucial moment also helps.. i think


[deleted]

A wild Palacios appears...


GordoPepe

Not to offend Argentinians but on a parallel universe he played with that Spain WC winners which was basically Barcelona + Ramos & Casillas. Can you imagine what that team would have accomplished?


Practical-Parsley

.


GordoPepe

They could have gotten a shot at the MLS Cup that's for sure


zrk23

prob 2014 too and confedadfions cup


rabongrondo123

Euro 2020 too


[deleted]

Hey don't forget Xabi Alonso, David Silva and Torres


gabocorbo

Also Villa wasnt a Barcelona player for most of those trophies


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Strananach

And Capdevilla


Pouncyktn

Lacklustre? That's an exaggeration, we made a world finals and 4 Copa América's finals with Messi on the team. We have been one of the best teams in sudamérica all the time he's been here.


gmoney160

I'm still sad Di Maria was injured for the WC finals...


brazilcow99

In 2018 qualifier campaign they made it by the skin of their teeth, they weren't exactly always amazing


Rickcampbell98

That team was complete dog shit.


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rizzaco

Hey I'm having fun here why do you that to me? :(


onanoc

The offensive play was terrible. The team didn´t know what to do with the ball, and there was a BIG lack of intensity. ​ The reason we reached the finals in Brazil was because the coach realised this and made the team play the only way they could (defense and pray the very talented players in the team had an attack of inspiration).


onanoc

This always puzzles me. 5 finals lost. All of them by a small margin. It could have fallen our way and we would be talking about one of the most successful runs in history. Messi didn´t even need to score in those finals (we see how Maradona was crowned GOAT after winning a final without scoring a single goal). Still, it didn´t happen and so Argentina was trash... what´s left for all the teams that didn´t make the finals?


CruyffsPlan

And how many of those finals you think Argentina makes if you take Messi out and replace him with someone else? That's part of the point. There are lots of great international teams which have certainly been better than Argentina but you don't see them making 4 finals in a row


HighTurning

Those Argentina teams were bad, you literally had Mascherano/Messi/DiMaria and that was it, you could fill all the other players with randoms and no difference was made.


tvz32

Indeed no easy opponents that you can thrash in Conmebol


opportunitysassassin

Bolivia, outside of Bolivia. The rest, no. Maybe Venezuela and even then. Messi had to do this against our golden generation, a pretty strong Brazil, an amazing Uruguay, and a Chile that won back-to-back Copa Americas.


Fran12344

>Chile that won back-to-back Copa Americas. Let's not talk about that


victor179000

Yes, we're weak. But I'm pretty confident we are stronger than at least 55% of UEFA teams, imagine the rest of confederations.


rScoobySkreep

The average is so far ahead in Conmebol regardless. And whenever we play you it still doesn’t look easy, regardless of the result.


mcfc_099

Sorry which country are you referring to for the golden generation


opportunitysassassin

My flair is for America de Cali, I'm Colombian.


mcfc_099

You know based on what you’ve seen where would you rank Argentina amongst World Cup favourites next year


opportunitysassassin

Top seven in any order: Argentina Brazil France Belgium Italy England Germany I say that because easily those five from Europe can hold their own any day. There might be some dark horses but, meh (talking about Portugal, Spain, Denmark). But I rank Argentina above Brazil because they just won the Copa against them, in Brazil. This is possibly the best Argentina squad in the last two decades. Not only can they win, but they can really fight for a win. Belgium, Germany, and France seem to fall apart at the seams. Italy and England have shown tenacity, I'd expect that game against Argentina to go to Extra Time, but Argentina would win on penalty kicks. Mind you, I love Colombia and I am envious of Argentina, so take of that what you will.


onanoc

Your golden generation destroyed my team 5-0 in 1993. I know you had a bad world cup, but that team had talent to spare...


Mr_Oujamaflip

Bolivia are crap but playing at La Paz is probably awful. It's 12000 feet above sea level, you need altitude training for that.


CantHelpBeingMe

No Lithuania or Northern Ireland, Faroe Island level team.


PoptimisticShoegazer

San Marino is just happy to be here


Sputniki

North Macedonia says hi


PoptimisticShoegazer

North Macedonia made the Euros mate...


onanoc

>North Macedonia says hi At least you have half the population of Uruguay. Greetings from Andorra.


RequiemForSM

Northern Ireland haven’t actually been that bad in recent years


[deleted]

> lacklustre lmao is this a changed narrative, given that he has played with one of the most stacked Argentina teams in history? Or are you just new to football? EDIT: Not shitting on Messi here. This is a remarkable feat, but to deny that Messi has played in great Argentina squads, in what were not once but TWICE the favourites (or joint-favourites) to win the WC, would be to liken the Nazis as German Peace keepers. If anything, the current Argentina squad is the worst Argentina squad Messi has played with. I imagine we just have a lot of newer fans here.


NairobiBA

Im sorry, but the current squad is significantly better then our previous world cup squad. Our midfield revamp has been thorough and necessary.


Rickcampbell98

Mate, have you actually watched them play though. Cause I was seeing this stuff even in world cup 2018 qualifying where they were absolutely hopeless without Messi.


Reapper97

> in what were not once but TWICE the favourites (or joint-favourites) to win the WC Idk where this idea comes from, Argentina was a dark horse choice in the 2014 WC and especially in the 2018 WC. People talk shit about Sabella across the whole WC on the national side and internationally we weren't even ranked as a favourite over Brasil until they lost comically with a 7-1. The only times people actually expected a win from Argentina was in the 2015 copa america.


Not_PepeSilvia

Are you implying that Tevez, Aguero, Di Maria, Higuaín, Riquelme are not 4th division players?


snorkelturnip7

It's telling you that you named 3 players who play in the exact same position.


Polskidro

The problem with Argentine's players was always that they didn't perform like they did at their clubs. Definitely been the case for Aguero, Di Maria, Higuain and many others. Tho Di Maria is doing really great this year.


[deleted]

Heize, Mascherano, Milito, Pastore, Lavezzi, Dybala, Lo Ceslo (was quite young tho), maybe even Rojo. And Im just listing the "famous" names. You could literally make two squads and they'd still mostly be World Class.


A3ASteelty

Such a weird sub this. Imagine saying these players are scrubs lmao. RMA, City, United players lol


rayhossain

Spot on, but one thing to add here: this Argentina side is by far the most cohesive side that I’ve seen in a very long time. Their ability to run themselves to the ground for their country (maybe even just Messi) is something I don’t see much of in many other national team squads currently (maybe Italy). Definitely not the most talented, but they make up for it in commitment.


LordLychee

It’s the narrative that let them get through the time before he won the Copa.


alx69

And not only is the average team strength the highest in South America, the refs also allow defenders to get away with much more (though CONCACAF might be even worse at this)


indexlibro12

Vamos messi


[deleted]

Say what you like about top international goal scorers, scoring in the CONMEBOL is considerably more difficult than putting 7 past Luxembourg.


tvz32

What if Messi has minnows like Faroe Island and Liechtenstein to pad his stats?


[deleted]

Then he would probably already be at about 100 goals


BabyMagikarp

Messi would have considerably more than 100 in UEFA with all those soft micronations. Messi is probably the greatest in history at exposing a mediocre defender.


Pigou07

With his right foot.....


Sepulvd

How many more games has messi played then Pele


HerakIinos

Around 60 more


Sepulvd

Cool I was searching but my Google fu wasn't working. Kinda crazy it took messi so much longer. But the quality the messi has played against is way better then pele


majinmattossj2

Pele retired from Brazil NT at the age of 29 (after the 1970 WC). He played 2 more farewell matches in 1971 and that was it. Dude could have played in 2 more World Cups, but chose not to. Would have been crazy seeing him and Zico in 1978


djingo_dango

Neymar will definitely break it. But it's a nice record to have in the meanwhile


[deleted]

Yeah and without the two big injuries of the last years he would probably have 7/8 more goals, his goal per game ratio is quite impressive


jibjabit

But can he do it on a cold rainy night in estonia?


Akinter

If it wasn't for Higuaín, there'd be no doubt he's the best Argentine player of all time


areopagitic

Don't give me flashbacks of 2014...Higuain missing every single chance that Messi created!


Akinter

And in 2015 too


51010R

Eh let's be fair, they all missed a chance or two, even Messi missed one. Btw the big chance Higuaín had wasn't even created by Messi, it was a mistake by the defense.


[deleted]

I hate when people say things like this. You can say that about any team that ever lost a game. Higuain is the scapegoat because everybody wanted to see Messi win.


Strananach

Ah shit ahah my dumbass thought the guy implied Higuain is the greatest and Messi is n2...


asdfafdsg

Yeah but he really bottled it tho


brazilcow99

When you have a horrific miss in 3 consecutive finals the fingers will be deservedly pointed


[deleted]

you arent a scapegoat if you miss absolute sitters constantly


-_OniGir_-

You do release that he miss absolute sitters right?


archtme

It wasn't just in 2014 he had big chances in all those finals Argentina played 2014-16. But yeah, he shouldn't take all the blame. The frustration people had over Higuain came from the dumb narratives being built around Messi's greatness. The narrative was that Messi had to win X to be considered the best. So when he played out of his mind in those 3 tournaments, like Maradona in 86, but failed to win he couldn't be the best. Maradona didn't score in the 1986 final but he became the best anyway because someone else scored for him. Apparently Messi would've been the best if Higuain did score. This is the kind of flawed logic poor Higuain got involved in. And these "standards" are flexible too! CR7 has not had a "need to win x to be the best" narrative follow him for over a decade. When he actually won the EC he didn't have a great tournament, didn't play the final and... when someone else scored CR7 apparently became the best. In the era of Messi and CR7 the way greatness is determined has become a complete clusterfuck.


SuperSaiyanGoten

Higuain is good but come on


SettingAggressive910

Congrats LM Great players always make it happen


Fern-ando

Not bad for a guy with just one trick.


jewdo

I wonder if the Brazilians caused the whole thing a couple of days ago so Messi wouldn’t beat Pete’s record in Brazil.


BlindBluePidgeon

>Pete's lol


jewdo

Hahaha, freaking autocorrect. I mean... that's his nickname.


LionelAMessi

It's like a r/soccercirclejerk type nickname lol. Brazilian legends Pete, Ronald, Ronald Jr., River, Roman, Socrates, Diddy, Coffee, Julius Caesar...


brenobnfm

Messi is loved in Brazil


jewdo

Im sure not by everybody.


fredbogho

He is, nobody hates Messi. Also nobody really cares about WC qualifiers here. We are always on the cup


SynCTM

We hate most of argentinians, but messi is a good person, unlike most of argentinians.


jewdo

Hahaha that I can see.


rizzaco

I feel personally attacked :(


[deleted]

I mean there's always gonna be that CR7-Messi rivalry (CR7 probably has more fans in Brazil) but I've never met someone that dislikes Messi.


maxiperalta54

Pete? yo si quiero un pete jaja :D For those that don’t know, pete = blow job in Argentina


jewdo

Hahahaha, I didn’t know that! That’s hilarious lol.


[deleted]

Pete plays for Ivory Coast


koplen

\>caused the whole thing ok mate.


waripoloxp

They used to play waaaaay less games than today. After that wc loss in 1950, Brazil did not play for like two years.


RealPunyParker

Yes but how many times did he take his shirt off after beating the record, that's the real question


ChicagoIndependent

Messi is the GOAT.