Messi Presented With Golden Boot

Former Argentina boss Diego Maradona has declared that Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi fully deserves the European Golden Boot and could win many more in his career.

Still just 23 years-old, Messi will collect the accolade on Thursday for the most domestic league goals scored in Europe last season. The Argentinean netted 34 goals for Barca in just 35 appearances and although Luis Suarez scored 35 league goals for Ajax, Messi finished higher as the Primera Liga holds a greater weighting than the Eredivisie.

“Messi has earned the Golden Boot and it’s well deserved and hopefully he will win many more,” Marca quote Maradona as saying. Didier Drogba of Premier League champions Chelsea and Antonio di Natale of Udinese finished joint second, despite having netted six goals less than the Uruguayan, while Gonzalo Higuain also finished above Suarez in the final rankings.

Meanwhile, youngsters hoping to play football with Lionel Messi look set to be disappointed after organisers said it was always unlikely to happen. Players from Bridge Academy and Cardinal Pole Catholic School were due to play a match with the Barcelona star on Hackney Marshes two weeks ago. The event had to be cancelled after hundreds of excited fans turned up to get a glimpse of their hero and the school players missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Event organisers Adidas told the Gazette that they were not planning to bring Messi back to the UK to meet any of the children but hoped to find a way to cheer the youngsters up.

An Adidas spokesman said: “There are no plans afoot to get Lionel Messi back to Hackney as it is very unusual to get someone of his stature in England. “The children knew they were about to do something amazing but they did not know what it was. “Both teams were kitted out in brand new boots and kits but we are currently in talks with both schools to find a way to take away some of the disappointment of not playing with Lionel.”