Lionel "The Greatest of All Time" Messi

[malvolio]

This Brazil is already very different from that one though.

Brazil themselves haven't beaten anyone of note at this tournament though. Yes, them and France look like the favourites to play the final, but anything can happen from here on.

 

[Horatio]

Brazil themselves haven't beaten anyone of note at this tournament though. Yes, them and France look like the favourites to play the final, but anything can happen from here on.

Yes I know. And obviously against Netherlands/Argentina it will be a much closer game. But this Brazil looks way more balanced than the Copa one.

 

[Daniele]

Unless a merciful God of football decides to let Argentina win, with Messi scoring 2 goals against Brazil and 3 against France in the final, OR, even more absurd, the same God, narcissistic, decides that Portugal win in the final with a penalty in the 97th minute from Ronaldo...
This World Cup seems to have already been written: France winning in the final against Brazil, by one goal.
I hope Morocco can finish third above Netherlands

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Unless a merciful God of football decides to let Argentina win, with Messi scoring 2 goals against Brazil and 3 against France in the final, OR, even more absurd, the same God, narcissistic, decides that Portugal win in the final with a penalty in the 97th minute from Ronaldo...
This World Cup seems to have already been written: France winning in the final against Brazil, by one goal.
I hope Morocco can finish third above Netherlands

ney vs mbappe would be fun

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Yes I know. And obviously against Netherlands/Argentina it will be a much closer game. But this Brazil looks way more balanced than the Copa one.

Exactly. This Brazil looks terrifying. They were not as good in the Copa.

 

[KingLeo10]

The main difference comparing Brazil of now to Copa is the emergence of their attack. Vinicius has a CL under his belt and Raphinha and Richarlison are solid attackers with top flight experience now.

 

[Horatio]

Copa America Brazil had Gabriel Barbosa up front and would sub in Firmino if things weren't working out.

 

[L3v1s]

No way can argentina beat this Brazilian team

I think it?s gonna be a great achievement to reach the semifinal for the ��
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And man what an international career he had

Copa America winner & runner up 3 times
World cup finalist
Olympic golden medal
Finalissima winner

Not to mention hos individual awards too ����

I wouldn't brag about those 3 Copa America finals to be honest.. And before I get hanged, I'm not a Messi hater. If you knew me irl you'd understand that I'm one of the most passionate fans. Even got dragged into that "D10s" cult following But to be fair he didn't have the "best" international career, and he was nowhere near terrible as some people make it up(some of them are just straight up haters so I get that).

He bailed Argentina numerous times and was their best player throughout 90% of their tournaments. But he's had some shitters, like the 2014 final against Germany, and some of the Copa America moments(including that missed penalty). With that said we can all agree that he was let down by his team mates, A LOT. The likes of Higuain started a career as a choker vs Germany, and the likes of Rodrigo Palacios etc. They had 3-4 good chances to make it 1-0. Tbh that team has overachieved considering the mediocre players(excluding attackers&Mascherano). But now the team is more balanced, even though they miss Lo Celso. It's much of the team that beat Brazil in 2021, so we'll just have to see.

I'm hoping for the best, but for me he is already the best player of all time.

 

[CatalinR10]

But to be fair he didn't have the "best" international career

Obviously but we just wanted him to achieve something that would be considered as doing great for his country when he'll finally retire.


Having won everything there was to win , except the world cup , with your country , where he also played in a final , being mvp in every type of tournament he played in , potentialy scoring +100 goals and playing in copa finals , I think he did great overall for his country . Not the best international career but he did his job.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

All in all Messi had a good international career, he wasnt terrible but wasnt worldclass either. So far WC final 2014 and Copa win 2021 were his peak. People in argentinia were not fair when they criticised Messi for his performances, he was always one of the best players/best player most of the time and honestly they dont deserve a Copa or Wc win but the players deserve it, its a pity that Higuain and Mascherano are not there anymore as they would have deserved it too. A bit cringe tough that Copa was between 15-21 4 times although it supposed to be every 4 years...

 

[L3v1s]

Obviously but we just wanted him to achieve something that would be considered as doing great for his country when he'll finally retire.


Having won everything there was to win , except the world cup , with your country , where he also played in a final , being mvp in every type of tournament he played in , potentialy scoring +100 goals and playing in copa finals , I think he did great overall for his country . Not the best international career but he did his job.

Oh, he definitely did his job as humanly possible. And statistically, he is the best Argentinian to play for the national team. That Copa America win did him some justice, it's just that one "little" thing that we're all probably upset about..

All in all Messi had a good international career, he wasnt terrible but wasnt worldclass either. So far WC final 2014 and Copa win 2021 were his peak. People in argentinia were not fair when they criticised Messi for his performances, he was always one of the best players/best player most of the time and honestly they dont deserve a Copa or Wc win but the players deserve it, its a pity that Higuain and Mascherano are not there anymore as they would have deserved it too. A bit cringe tough that Copa was between 15-21 4 times although it supposed to be every 4 years...

Tbh I've seen him receive a lot of love lately from the Argentinians. There was a street interview with some fans at this world cup(not a great sample but still)and most of the younger fans consider him as the greatest Argentinian, while the older generation seems to be 50/50 on this debate(he gained a lot of older supporters lately). Most people probably wish him the best and know how much he wants to win it. As for the chokers, I don't know if they deserve to win anything, if they messed it up so many times.. Higuain is a good club player but that's it imo.. He was one of the best while playing for Real and then Napoli but he has his fair share of guilt for Argentina. It's like he chose when to be shit. And yeah I also believe that it's a bit cringe with how many Copa editions they've had lately, it kinda lost it's worth by a bit.. It is what it is though.

What's your take on this as a Portuguese(assuming), would you root for La Pulga?

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Oh, he definitely did his job as humanly possible. And statistically, he is the best Argentinian to play for the national team. That Copa America win did him some justice, it's just that one "little" thing that we're all probably upset about..



Tbh I've seen him receive a lot of love lately from the Argentinians. There was a street interview with some fans at this world cup(not a great sample but still)and most of the younger fans consider him as the greatest Argentinian, while the older generation seems to be 50/50 on this debate(he gained a lot of older supporters lately). Most people probably wish him the best and know how much he wants to win it. As for the chokers, I don't know if they deserve to win anything, if they messed it up so many times.. Higuain is a good club player but that's it imo.. He was one of the best while playing for Real and then Napoli but he has his fair share of guilt for Argentina. It's like he chose when to be shit. And yeah I also believe that it's a bit cringe with how many Copa editions they've had lately, it kinda lost it's worth by a bit.. It is what it is though.

What's your take on this as a Portuguese(assuming), would you root for La Pulga?

sorry for late answer, i didnt see it.

Now they support him because they won Copa, before that they had a shameful behavior. Younger fans are usually on his side, it's more the older fans who have seen Maradona, who has shown a lot of disappointment towards Messi in recent years.
I was a huge La Pulga fan until I discovered this forum where Messi fanboys (not fans) would go crazy if you criticize Messi which made me like him less. But nowadays it doesnt care me and like I said he and his teammates deserve a World Cup but as long as Portugal plays they shouldn't win it If both countries don't win then I hope for Ney would be a nice thing after the 1-7 at home 2014, siu.

 

[ArtistCatalunya]

All in all Messi had a good international career, he wasnt terrible but wasnt worldclass either. So far WC final 2014 and Copa win 2021 were his peak. People in argentinia were not fair when they criticised Messi for his performances, he was always one of the best players/best player most of the time and honestly they dont deserve a Copa or Wc win but the players deserve it, its a pity that Higuain and Mascherano are not there anymore as they would have deserved it too. A bit cringe tough that Copa was between 15-21 4 times although it supposed to be every 4 years...

In CopaAmerica 2016, Messi was on fire, had a superb tournament, but got unlucky at the end.

 

[Rory]

De Paul training separately, potentially missing the Netherlands game.

 

[Pedro]

Leo will walk past VVD