Messi closing in on remarkable record

Posted Thursday, October 20, 2011 by ESPN

Lionel Messi's sublime form has put to rest (for now) who's better, Messi or Ronaldo, as he closes in on Barca's scoring record.
Just in case anyone thought there was one talent Lionel Messi didn't possess -- that is, a sense of dramatic timing -- on Saturday the Argentine celebrated the seventh anniversary of his La Liga debut for Barcelona with a pair of goals that put him second in the club's all-time scoring list.

At age 24.

Thanks to 103 goals in his past 100 matches, Messi has superseded the legendary Ladislao Kubala (an outrageously talented Hungarian striker of the 1950s and early 1960s) with 196 goals in all competitions -- 39 short of all-time leader Cesar Rodriguez's 235.

The over-eager are beginning to speculate whether this footballing genius could overtake that record this season. You and I who know Messi a little better understand that if he does, it will be a byproduct of a good season. This is a kid who lives to win games and lift trophies. Goals are simply his contribution to doing so, not an end in themselves.

However, at a time when he's already won 20 senior competitive trophies with club and country, Messi is also pressing the accelerator -- his 16 goals in 12 competitive matches for Barca is his best start to a season. Moreover, he tends to give teammates more than 20 assists per season (24 last term), and he's already provided nine in 2011-12 and we are only in October. Messi is a machine.

As you read this, the ballot forms for the FIFA Ballon D'Or award are going out to specified journalists plus the captains and coaches of the world's international sides. We will know who'll be on the long list in a couple of weeks and the short list in late December. It is inconceivable that Messi, by some considerable distance the greatest modern talent and arguably the most remarkable footballer ever, won't win to become the only player other than Michel Platini to lift the award for three straight seasons.

If he stays healthy, Messi is likely to become the only man in the history of football to win that individual trophy more than three times, leaving behind him Alfredo Di Stefano, Johan Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Franz Beckenbauer, Roberto Baggio, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and similar world talents.

Let's say it again. Messi is 24.

It also wasn't that long ago that Messi had competition on an individual level. In 2007, he was third on the Ballon D'Or short list behind Cristiano Ronaldo at No. 2 and Kaka at No. 1, and in 2008 he was second behind Ronaldo. There was a "field"; there were credible rivals.

Unthinkable now.

Which is one of Messi's great achievements. Ronaldo is a monstrous talent who has produced 96 goals in his first 100 official matches for Real Madrid and celebrated reaching those figures this past weekend by providing a couple of assists (for Gonzalo Higuain and Kaka) in the 4-1 defeat of Betis. He also has 13 goals in 15 games for club and country this season.

« Previous12 3 Next »