At least Argentina made the final and Messi contributed. Last time I checked Portugal with Ronaldo on the other hand haven't. In fact Ronaldo has done f all. At least Messi is retiring with grace. Ronaldo is acting like a knob in comparison. I am a Manchester United fan and still like Ronaldo but even I acknowledge Manchester United are better off without him and has acted like a complete knob. To say otherwise is idiotic. He is finished.
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- Thread starter Samid
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Never understood. If the narrative is that Ronaldo is greater than Maradona, why has there never been any expectations of him carrying portugal to the WC?
Needs to drop the fake hard man behaviour as it doesn't really suit him and looks very forced . Maybe trying to over compensate as everyone compares his personality negatively next to Diego who was a different animal.
The Argentine people are absolutely loving it to be honest.
You can buy tshirts with "¿Que miras Bobo?" already and little action figures from the interview
I doubt he cares what everyone else thinks at this stage.
I never specifically thought he was likeable so it doesn’t really surprise me. I always thought he was kind of arrogant but maybe the line between appearing arogant and being shy is thin…
What bothers him most though is of course the pressure, it is his last chance to become the undisputed goat. I think he will lose another final
What bothers him most though is of course the pressure, it is his last chance to become the undisputed goat. I think he will lose another final
Yeah, not even sure they have it in them to beat Croatia with that midfield, and Morocco/France in the final will be a step too far. Both teams have got great wingers, especially france, and you have molina and that scrub acuna up against them
Exactly. 0 goals in world cup knockout games is pretty poor.
Because Messi is being compared to Maradona whereas C.Ronaldo is being compared to Messi, thats how C.Ronaldo somehow got into the conversation in the first place. Imagine comparing him to Maradona or Pele directly
CR7 marketing team did a great job if you ask me, Putin, Trump and co should consider hiring them
Ahah I didn't see clearly that he grabbed VVD by the neck ^^
No other short player in the world could get away with it.
No other short player in the world could get away with it.
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This is hilarious
How do you lot reckon his standing in Argentina will be compared to Diego if you lot win it this year ? always assumed you held Diego in higher regard but what about then?
it’s got to a point where we love both practically the same, prior to the 2021Americas cup there were some anti-Messi people, but after the 2019 version we are seeing this more leader version of him, talking and saying things straight, and of course now winning and carrying the team as always. Everyone loves him now, the way he is talking and Reacting to the games is what people here expect from their hero. At the same time he is still humble and has some actions that people here love.
He will never be Maradona though. In my eyes, Maradona was Argentina incarnated, with the good and bad things. And the way he won the World Cup, and the whole context, and the following one with everyone against us reaching the final, it will never be replicated.
this current world cup has a feeling like everyone is against us too, everyone wants us to lose, everyone is saying the next team is kicking us out, and seeing Messi fighting against that is also very inspiring.
I think he will be a lot closer (especially with the younger generations who are more critical of Maradonas flaws) but ultimately most will favor Diego due to reasons that are hard for non Argentines to understand.
I wasn't born in Argentina, I just reside here (for my sins) so it took me awhile to appreciate what Maradona means to the Argentine people.
I'd frequently get into "debates" with friends and family who would ignore pretty much any stat I could give that would show Messi's superiority over Maradona etc but year on year I grew to appreciate the fact that while you can attempt to quantify their rationale (The world cup) the love/ appreciation they have for Diego Maradona is unquantifiable.
It's emotional and spiritual and although he was one of the finest footballers In the history of world football it's nearly secondary to the feelings of hope that he gave an entire nation in bleak times.
Had Maradona died when I first arrived I wouldn't have understood the significance of the event, after some years here I could empathise with my friends and family members who wept tears of sadness that he was finally gone while crying tears of joy when talking about the impact he had on their lives.
Messi can't do that.
He can't recreate the feeling around Argentina around the fall of the Military Junta and the Malvinas (Falklands) War.
Diego fought for them at their lowest point and won.
Argentina is a beautiful country with a proud people but in many ways the beauty is only skin deep and superficial while the pride is rooted in events that move further away as time passes.
Spend enough time here and you feel the profound sadness, the country feels like an ageing supermodel/movie star desperately clinging onto their youth when they were the best thing around and are now struggling to come to terms with their wrinkles and weight gain.
They long for years gone by.
You see the collapse of a great nation in its older buildings, built to the highest standards years ago during prosperous times but falling into disrepair nowadays alongside signs on stores (abandoned now) when the dollar and peso had parity (it's around 300/1 now).
This country is in desperate need of a hero and I really hope that Messi can do it for all of us here.
If he does he will be second only to Diego IMO but he won't replace him as God around these parts (but to be honest no body could).
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Great post!
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From outside Argentina it feels the opposite to me, 70-80% of people have been wanting Messi/Argentina to win the WC.
Beautiful way to put and as I assumed.
I'm no Argentinean and hell I wasn't even around to watch that 1986 WC live or see Diego at his peak but even watching the old films and reading the reports and talking to the fans it was always apparent to me that Maradona had that extra something, the x factor that made him so easy to admire (and despise in equal measure for others) and despite Messi's unquestioned footballing brilliance he never had that quality to command love and hate on similar scale, and I doubt that a possible WC victory would change that much.
Anyway you lot aren't that much loved here on Cafe but I'm rooting for you anyway (well no one but france).
I always find this video incredible, and a good way to explain to a certain point why Maradona is so loved. It has english subs although kinda messy. Totally worth it.
It's like a heightened version of India and Sachin Tendulkar the cricketer who I idolized growing up. We will produce better cricketers eventually (possibly), some would argue we already have (I disagree) but emotionally the countries' attachment to him is undescribable. I think Argentina's attachment to Maradona is even greater due to his very local Argentine personality. That's not to say that Messi may not go down as the better globally of course.
Every word of this is pure gold, but Maradona is not just for Argentina. I am not Argentinian, not even from Napoli, but I grew up Diego being my idol and nobody can ever come close. Doesn't matter who has what statistics or wins what, Maradona is the God of football. He wasn't just an amazing player who could win any game alone but he was a cult hero, something Messi doesn't even come close to
If Messi wins the World Cup then do people think he would retire?
Would be a good way to do so.
Would be a good way to do so.
I've earned my living for years writing and producing content in various forms. You sir should consider doing the same, your storytelling skills are profound. Hat off!
Your post about Maradona resonates for all that have ever felt marginalized and hard done by. I grew up as the son of immigrants in a very different country than my parents. We used to be 25 boys of 25 nationalities at the football pitch. Neutral ground, out there we were just us and of course sometimes we were also our national teams best player.
All of our parents working class heroes doing what they could to provide, doing what they had to do to survive. Each and every one of us had "a Maradona" that we swore by. It could be a footballer, a musician, superb cuisine or a national monument.
I suppose you could compare it to Bob Marley. Has there been better reggae artists? I don't know, but yes, probably on a technical level. But all that Bob stood for, the emotions he evoked, speaking up about injustices can't be replicated or trumphed. He has been gone for decades but ask anybody in the world about Jamaica and I'm sure Bob Marley is the first association followed by ganja and Usain Bolt.
From top football, yes. Him as a tier 1 player in MLS would do good for him - additional revenue, attention, maybe lead the league with assists?
Obviously can't speak for everyone, but loads of people I know who follow football frequently (and have nothing do with Argentina in general) want you and Messi to win the World Cup, Brazilians obviously excluded. It would be a typical "fairytale" with Messi finally completing his set of honors and trophies.
I am English and want Argentina to win (not just because I got them in the sweepstakes)
Same with me. Most neutrals I know in real life want Messi to win the WC. Myself included.
Real Madrid fans and mexicans hate Messi so much that they’ve been rooting for every single team that played against us. Other nations are like 50/50
Totally agree, he had something else about him that transcended beyond just football skills, he's pretty much an icon not just for Argentina but the world.
Even Brazil and Portugal? Holland also joined the party lately
The rest are between supporting you and Morocco (excluding french and croats of course)
Btw mexicans hate messi? Why?
I had a look at Maradona compilation of 86 the other day and I really don’t think we will ever see a better WC performance, it had everything outrageous skill and flair, flicking the ball over opponents heads, passes that were so perfectly weighted even the uneven pitches couldn’t stop its brilliance, assists goals where he would dribble past 2-3 players, big moments like the game against England, and all while being fouled all over the place, some of those tackles he endured would have ended certain modern players tournaments.
If you can, watch the vid I posted a couple post above. Worth every second.
Argentina doesn’t even sniff the knockout stage in 2014 if not for Messi carrying them in the group stage.
0 goals and 0 assists in the World Cup knockout stage. Ronaldo doesn’t sniff the GOAT title.
Madrid fans most of them.
I've never been comfortable with the deification of Maradona, not just because of his drug problems, but also because I just don't like the personality traits everyone else seems to idolise him for, in fact those are the kind of traits I despise in real life. Maybe they are an advantage when it comes to competing at the highest level in any field, but I don't know, I can discuss how incredibly good he was on a football pitch all day, gladly, but this constant exaltation of his persona just feels wrong to me.
Yeah, I have the same feeling with Zlatan sometimes. People idolize bully behaviour and I don't like that. In case of Maradona, I believe it has more to do with him being a relatable person to many. A role model athlete that's quiet, controlled and professional all the time doesn't really inspire identification because fans don't see themselves in him. Maradona had extremely bright but also very dark sides to him, like most people have (albeit not as extreme).
Zlatan has a considerable amount of self-awareness, though. He's a piss taker to a considerable extent. He enjoys playing a role when dealing with the media.
I'm not saying he's actually a super humble guy - but he's clearly not deadly serious about being some kind of über alpha killing machine who refers to himself in the third person.
Maradona had personality and character in spades - good and bad.
Messi generally comes across as...not very charming. Boring as feck.
Ronaldo...yeah, what can you say. I used to say that he at least - when compared to Messi - came across as a bit crazy (not in a good way, but still). But on the whole what he comes across as is a very unpleasant person on all sorts of levels.