Who would have thought that prior to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, La Liga’s elite players would pretty much all be heading home? It all started on Saturday when both Argentina and Portugal were eliminated in their respective games which meant that once again, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi failed to shine on the World’s biggest stage and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo looks likely to have to make do with just his European Championship to fall back on (its still not bad though). Just as the shock of the elimination of La Liga’s two shining stars was sinking in, Sunday dawned which … [Read more...]
Infographic: Lionel Messi’s penalty misses
If there's one glaring weakness in Lionel Messi's near-perfect game, it is his penalty taking. Lately the Barcelona record-breaker has made headlines because of his awry penalties rather than the bucketload of goals he grabs every week. His miss against Manchester City last night was the fifth penalty Messi has missed in the last 12 months for club and country, proving that he is in fact human after all. It is a weakness slowly growing into Messi's game after he had almost perfected the art of penalty taking, rarely missing from the spot. However, it appears as if an element of pressure has … [Read more...]
Messi proves ability to lead Argentina to glory
Lionel Messi led his team to a hard-fought victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina last night, proving he has the capability to help Argentina win the World Cup. Messi bagged the second goal in the 2-1 win to kick-off Argentina's World Cup campaign. There has been plenty of pressure on Messi to perform, as the final comparison to Maradona is to lead Argentina to World Cup glory, as Diego did in 1986. Whilst Messi is not alone in a star-studded Argentina squad, he has been given the talismanic tag, heavy in responsibility. His performance last night was far from his Barcelona best, but the goal … [Read more...]
Lionel Messi – What Next?
At just 25, very few can claim to have rewritten history by their mid-twenties but Lionel Messi, as we are so often reminded, is not a regular human being. Whilst many of the same age look to grow up and plan for the next step though, Messi too has to enter a new phase of his career. Finished with 'Gerd Muller's Guide to Scoring Goals in a Calendar Year', Messi faces no choice but to divulge himself in another chapter of life like many of us have had to at some point. … [Read more...]