SoccerBible Debate - Who's better - Maradona or Messi? - 25/03/10
Lionel Messi has been in truly scintillating form recently, and the brilliant Argentinian seems simply unstoppable! Prompting the question - is Lionel Messi better than Diego Maradona?
Maradona was at the Camp Nou to watch Lionel Messi put in another awesome performance and score another stunning hat-trick. After the performance the Argentinian legend commented: "Messi looked fantastic, full of energy, happy ... He's maturing in giant strides." Praise indeed from one of the greatest players of all time, and scorer of the greatest World Cup goal.
The similarities between the two forwards style of play is uncanny, both Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona can lay claim to scoring great individual goals, and inspiring their team to victory. An observation that hasn't gone unnoticed in the game, with Messi grabbing the headlines:
"I play with him, I see him every day and to me he is the best. Maradona has been the best player in history and for me, Messi is even greater than he is." Commented Barcelona team-mate Pedro RodrÍguez.
"Messi is the best I've ever seen. For me he is the most complete player I have ever seen and he is better than Maradona. Maradona was probably equal to him from the dead ball but in other things Messi is much better, much faster and much more skillful. He is far better with the utmost respect to other players." Said Deportivo La Coruna manager Miguel Angel Lotina.
Both Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona have inspired their domestic sides to league titles, with Messi winning the Primera Division and Maradona victorious in Serie A. Surely Lionel Messi will go on to be one of Argentina's great number 10 players, but at the moment he has yet to emulate Maradona's achievements on the international stage. Diego Maradona led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup, scoring one of the greatest goals of all time in the process - but of course there's plenty of time yet for Messi!
WE WANT TO KNOW WHO SOCCERBIBLE FANS THINK IS BETTER - LIONEL MESSI OR DIEGO MARADONA?