Archive for 2010
Messi vs Sevilla – The Video!
Monday, August 23rd, 2010Messi vs Sevilla – The Pictures
Monday, August 23rd, 2010Martin Palermo Believes Messi Isn’t A Leader
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
Lionel Messi has been chided by Argentina team-mate Martin Palermo, who claims the Barcelona star lacks the leadership qualities that Diego Maradona had when he led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title. Palermo even compared Maradona’s humble roots in growing up in a Buenos Aires slum to Messi’s youth, which was spent playing for Barcelona.
“Messi isn’t Maradona,” Palermo said on Monday on America TV. “To me, Messi does not have Maradona’s mentality. He’s not prepared to carry the team. “He (Messi) is not one to take the role of leader. He won’t do it because he’s not used to this position. He grew up in another way, he’s lived differently. He’s been with Barcelona since he was 12.”
Messi, FIFA’s reigning Player of the Year, has never shown the same form with the Argentine national team as for Barcelona. At the recent World Cup in South Africa, he failed to score a goal. Critics have suggested Maradona had Messi playing out of position, forcing him to drop into midfield to get the ball instead of receiving it near the box.
Germany humiliated Argentina 4-0 in the World Cup quarter-finals, and Maradona left the team several weeks later after the Argentine Football Association declined to renew his contract as coach. The 36-year-old Palermo was one of six strikers in Argentina’s squad at the World Cup, but played only 13 minutes in South Africa and is unlikely to have a future with the national team no matter who takes over the reins.
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Lionel Messi scored a hat trick as Barcelona won a record ninth Supercup by beating Sevilla 4-0 in the second leg for a 5-3 aggregate Saturday. After losing the first leg 3-1 in Seville, league champion Barcelona dominated from the start in its Camp Nou Stadium. In the 14th minute, Pedro Rodriguez delivered a low cross that rebounded in off defender Abdoulay Konko. In the 25th, Messi ran on to Xavi Hernandez’s long through pass and put a first-time shot past goalkeeper Andres Palop. The Argentina striker scored his second and put his side ahead on aggregate in the 44th, shooting high into the net after being put through by Daniel Alves. Messi ran on to Andres Iniesta’s pass to complete his hat trick in the 90th.