World Cup: Messi's last chance

Gerard Pique once said that Cristiano Ronaldo was the best of the humans, but Lionel Messi was an extraterrestrial. Pique, the Barcelona defender, was right.

Messi's presence did seem otherworldly, an alien who crash-landed in Argentina and was scooped up by Spanish guardians. He possessed powers beyond ordinary folks, as long as he kept on his Barcelona jersey.

When he swopped his club costume for the colours of his country, Messi's magnificence was somehow muted on the loudest stage. The World Cup confirmed his mortality. He was just a man, a first footballer among equals.

He still can't quite escape the asterisk, the "nearly man" tag, the sense of "almost, but not quite". He's the world's greatest player, but he's never been the greatest player at the World Cup. He hasn't even been close.

Brazil offers the final breakthrough. Messi turns 27 during the tournament. This is arguably his last chance to outrank them all.

Argentina's little genius is already on the podium, but he still looks up at Pele and Diego Maradona, not because they were blessed with superior talent - they weren't - but because they won the World Cup.

The tournament does more than separate men from boys; it distinguishes men from Pique's extraterrestrials.

Pele peaked in 1970. Maradona was made in 1986. Their club careers didn't always scale the heights of their contemporaries, namely George Best, Alfredo di Stefano, Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini.

But Pele and Maradona reached Everest. In 1970 and 1986 respectively, they wept, literally, for there were no more worlds to conquer. Everything else was immediately dwarfed in comparison; lesser achievements worthy of respect, but not reverence.

Messi still has one more mountain to climb. He will hope this is third time lucky.

In 2006, he was the new kid on Barcelona's block, recovering from injury and not quite ready to be entrusted with the keys of his country's kingdom.

By 2010, Messi defied the naked eye and computer game pixels. He did things beyond the capabilities of PlayStation footballers.

His dribbling, perpetual foot-prodding technique confounded scientists. Human feet were not supposed to move that fast. His incessant tapping belonged to a different species, seemingly stolen from a Woody Woodpecker cartoon.

POETRY IN MOTION

He was poetry in motion. The only man who had previously moved with such effortless style, speed and upper body strength happened to be his manager at South Africa 2010.

But Maradona's muddled tactics favoured Messi in possession, but left him isolated whenever Argentina lost the ball.

Their top-heavy approach appeared impressive in the group stages, but was relatively easy to break down when the resourceful Germans simply tipped the game's pattern in the other direction like a playground see-saw.

Argentina were victims of an avalanche. Messi could only look on from afar as his exposed teammates crumbled to a 4-0 defeat. The obstacle proved the end of the road for Maradona. His heir to the genius throne would have to wait for redemption.

Sublime club seasons passed and superlatives were swiftly exhausted as Messi's supermarket dash saw him sling six league titles, three Champions League crowns, two Copa del Reys, two Club World Cups, two European Super Cups and three Ballon d'Or trophies into the heaving trolley.

The records started to get silly. He became Barcelona's all-time scorer at 24 and knocked in an unassailable 86 goals in the calendar year of 2012.

Oh, and he had an average, out-of-sorts, injury-affected season in the Catalan side's most recent trophy-less campaign. He scored a "paltry" 28 goals in 30 league appearances and notched 41 in all competitions.

Messi's figures entertain statisticians, but he wants to push them to the fringes. They are an elite footballer's footnotes. The World Cup drives the narrative.

For the first time in Messi's international career, Argentina's stars have aligned in a tidy 4-3-3 formation that has been fortified by pragmatic coach Alejandro Sabella. Where they were once reckless under Maradona, they are now resolute.

Niggling injury concerns remain over Sergio Aguero and pivotal midfielder Fernando Gago, but they have been fortuitously drawn in a relatively easy Group F with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran and Nigeria.

With a familiar climate in their home continent, this is Argentina's best opportunity to finally realise the potential first witnessed when Messi, Gago, Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005.

And it is Messi's moment to surpass the immortals.

He already shares a pedestal with Pele and Maradona. Their prodigious talents unite them. They are separated only by the World Cup. So an Argentina victory comes with a confirmation. Messi would be the greatest footballer of all time.

npsports@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on May 28, 2014.
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