At the moment, soccer’s cognoscenti seem to agree that Lionel Messi is the game’s best player. The Argentine forward has led his country’s national team to an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup runner-up finish. With his club team in Barcelona, meanwhile, he has been named the FIFA World Player of the Year an unprecedented five times, quite a feat for a player whose short stature has led to the nickname “The Atomic Flea.” This updated biography contains a number of conversations with players and coaches who’ve marveled at Messi’s talent.
Here’s an excerpt from Messi:
“At the home of English football, the Flea leads a wonderfully lively performance, exquisite and lyrical, and the Brits leave the ground convinced that they have just witnessed what can truly be called a beautiful game. A match to tell their grandchildren about. A performance rewarded with the man of the match title, presented on the pitch, a performance which exhausts all the media’s best adjectives. It is so convincing that the Guardian compares it to Nándor Hidegkuti’s performance in the same stadium, when he scored a hat-trick in Hungary’s 6-3 victory over England in the autumn of 1953.
“Above all, Messi has been a team player. He finds spaces and moves between the defense to strengthen Barca’s position and unravel Man United’s game plan. He demonstrates his wide repertoire: quick runs, passes in from the touchline to get round the opponents, assists, and attempts at goal. He gives the Reds’ defense a run for their money and he’s Vidíc and Evra’s worst nightmare.”
