Lionel Messi, is a household name on the lips of every football lovers all over the globe…
The name is synonymous with the round leather game.
Of course, the entertaining beautiful game has produced many football stars around the world.
These great football stars, at the peak of their glory, reigned and dominated their respective milieu.
The late King Pelé of Brazil would forever remain a legend…
The late Argentine idol, Diego Maradona, was phenomenal during his footballing career.
However, the dimunitive naturally-gifted left-footer Messi remains, perhaps, the strongest force to reckon with in the world of football.
For more than one and half decades, he has been the compass used in gauging the performance of other footballers in contemporary times.
He has been variously called the greatest footballer ever; the “miracle from god”; and “the living god of football”.
His superlative performance on the field have been attested to by several world-renowned great footballers and sports men and women.
Here are 51 attestations and comments from these masters of their games, within and outside of football, on the super-man footballer:
1.Ray Hudson, soccer commentator: “They tell me that all men are equal in God’s eyes, this player makes you seriously think about those words.”
2. Arda Turan: “I have never seen anyone like Leo Messi. He is a miracle from God!
“I like it when he does his things on the field. It’s not jealousy – I feel good, for instance, when he nutmegs someone.”
3. Radamel Falcao: “Is Messi a real player or a PlayStation character?”
4. The legendary King Pelé: “I like Messi a lot. He’s a great player. Technically, we’re practically at the same level.”
5. Hristo Stoichkov: “Once they said they can only stop me with a pistol. Today you need a machine gun to stop Messi.”
6. Radomir Antic: “He is the Mozart of soccer.”
7. Xavi: “It is clear that Messi is on a level above all others. Those who do not see that are blind.”
8. Luis Figo: “For me, to watch him play is a pleasure – it’s like having an orgasm – it’s an incredible pleasure.”
9. Ex-Barcelona President, Sandro Rosell: “Barca will never have a player like Messi again. His greatness is present on and off the field of play.”
10. Carles Puyol: “This Barca will be remembered as Messi’s Barca. He’s well above anything else I’ve ever seen. He’s an alien.”
11. Luis Enrique: “Messi is the best in the world without any doubt and, for me, the history of soccer.”
12. Samuel Eto’o: “Messi is god, as a person and even more as a player. I knew him when he was a boy and I’ve watched him grow. He deserves it all.”
13. Javier Mascherano: “Although he may not be human, it’s good that Messi still thinks he is.”
14. Romario: “Newton and Einstein had a certain level of autism –
“I hope that, like them, Messi surpasses himself every day and continues to give us his beautiful brand of soccer.”
15. Barcelona President, Josep Maria Bartomeu: “Life with Leo is prettier, of another colour.”
16. Portuguese writer, Antonio Lobo Antunes: “There are three or four important things in life: books, friends, women… and Messi.”
17. Tennis superstar, Victoria Azarenka: “Seeing Messi play is like watching a video game… What he does on a soccer field is simply unthinkable…
“The way he walks from side to side, and once he sees an opportunity, he simply creates magic.”
18. Edgar Davids: “He is an anomaly. The rest will have to wait until he falls off a little bit.”
19. Bar Rafaeli: “At this point, I’m starting to believe that Messi is tightly related to Clark Kent.”
20. Franck Ribery: “Messi is class. There is him, and then there is the rest. What he does is extraordinary.”
21. Thiago Alcantara: “We give him the ball and stand back and watch.
“People often say to me they saw Pele and Maradona play. In the future, I will be able to say I saw him play.”
22. Zinedine Zidane: “He is always going forwards. He never passes the ball backwards or sideways.
“He has only one idea, to run towards the goal. So as a soccer fan, just enjoy the show.”
23. Tata Martino: “He sees passes that most people can only see whilst watching the game on TV, not ones that you can normally see on the pitch.”
24. Luis Enrique: “He does not really seem human to me.”
25. Johan Cruyff: “For the world of soccer, Messi is a treasure because he is a role model for children around the world…
“He will be the player to win the most Ballons d’Or in history. He will win five, six, seven. He is incomparable. He’s in a different league.”
26: Former Tottenham star, Gerry Armstrong: “I have played against Platini, Maradona, Cruyff and played with George Best — a lot of big names, but none of them has been able to do what Messi does.
“Two years ago, I said that the best player I played against was Maradona and the best player I have played with was Bestie.
“But I can now say I have never seen a player as good as Messi. He’s in a league of his own.”
27. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar: “Who’s better, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Messi. Ronaldo is good, but Messi is 10 times better.”
28. Diego Simeone: “Diego [Maradona] filled us with emotions. But between the cracks, without doubt, Messi is better than Maradona.”
29. Maxi Rodriguez: “There is no doubt, you’re from another galaxy. Thanks Leo.”
30. Arsene Wenger: “Who is the Best Player in the World? Leo Messi. Who is the Best Player Ever? Leo Messi.”
31. Diego Maradona: “I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine soccer and his name is Messi. He is a genius.”
32. Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “Messi does not need his right foot. He only uses the left and he’s still the best in the world.
“Imagine if he also used his right foot, Then we would have serious problems.”
33. Gary Lineker: “Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele…
“Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi is the best they have seen. He plays a game with which we are not familiar.”
34. Albert Ferrer: “I played with Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Laudrup and Stoichkov but Messi is the best I’ve seen.”
35. Gerard Pique: “It feels good to be in the same generation as him. I believe he’s the best player in the history of the sport.”
36. Carlos Bilardo: “Messi defies the laws of anatomy, he must have an extra bone in his ankle.”
37. John Terry: “Lionel Messi is quite clearly the best player ever.
“It’s a pleasure to pit myself against him and when I finish my career it’s something I can look back on and know I’ve tested myself against the very best.”
38. Fabio Capello: “In my entire life, I have never seen a player of such quality and personality at such a young age, particularly wearing the ‘heavy’ shirt of one of the world’s great clubs…
“Before a game, you can plan for everything. But Messi can produce a move that no-one expects and change the game in an instant.”
39. Tostão: “Messi is better than Maradona; he is more complete, more consistent, more spectacular.
“He is reinventing the game – a mix of the real and the virtual.”
40. Mario Gomez: “I am not crazy enough to compare myself with Messi because he is the best there ever was and the best there will ever be.”
41. Roy Keane: “I was a big fan of Maradona growing up and of the current crop Ronaldo is good but Messi is the best I’ve ever seen.
“I don’t dish out praise lightly but Messi deserves it. I look for weaknesses in his game and I can’t find them.”
42. AC Milan chief, Adriano Galliani: “Messi is the best player ever. And this is said by someone who has seen Maradona and Pele play.”
43. Bacary Sagna: “He is the best in the world. soccer seems easy when he plays it.”
44. Kobe Bryant: “I wear the Number 10 Jersey for the US National Team in honour of the greatest athlete I have ever seen: Messi.”
45. Felipe Scolari: “The only bad thing about Ronaldo’s life is Messi. If it was not for him, Ronaldo would be the best player in the world for five years in a row.”
46. Michael Owen: “I can’t believe anyone can have played the game of soccer as well as Messi.”
47. Franz Beckenbauer: “Messi is a genius. He has everything. When I watch him, I see a player who is very, very skilful, very clever and his left foot is like Diego Maradona’s.”
48. Gheorghe Hagi: “Messi or Cristiano? Cristiano Ronaldo is very good, but I prefer Messi. He’s incredible.”
49. Spanish manager Miguel Angel Lotina: “Comparing CR7 to him is an exercise of ignorance in soccer. Messi is Messi and others, soccerers.”
50. Real Madrid legend, Raul: “The other day I saw one of his games. He was running with the ball at 100 per cent full speed.
“I don’t know how many touches he took, maybe five or six, but the ball was glued to his foot. It’s practically impossible.”
51. Pep Guardiola wrapped it up thus: “Don’t write about him, don’t try to describe him. Just watch him.
•Source: m.all.footballapp.com
