Basile: Messi a phenomenon even without World Cup win

Posted Saturday, March 07, 2015 by Goal.com

The Argentine has refuted suggestions Lionel Messi needs to win the World Cup to be treated as one of the all-time greats

Former Argentina coach Alfio Basile says Lionel Messi does not need to win the World Cup to cement his status as a footballing "phenomenon".

Messi has already won six Liga titles, four Ballon d'Or awards, three Champions Leagues and two Fifa Club World Cups. Furthermore, the 27-year-old is the all-time leading goalscorer in both the Champions League and the Spanish top flight.

However, there are those that believe that Messi needs to left the World Cup in order to be considered the greatest player of all time. The Barcelona man did lead Argentina to the final of last year's tournament but his side were beaten 1-0 by Germany.

Basile, though, says the World Cup is an irrelevance when it comes to appraising Messi's place in history.

"The problem Messi has is that people want him to win it [the World Cup] because they think he will then become even better," the former Albiceleste boss told Perform.

"But although he is not a world champion, Messi is a phenomenon."

After an injury-hit 2013-14 campaign, Messi has hit 38 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona so far this season.