In the end it was fitting. Lionel Messi centre stage, Xavi Hernandez watching him. It wouldn’t surprise anyone had Xavi directed him up there. Some of the football cognoscenti wanted the Catalan schemer rewarded for a year in which the two best sides in the world danced to the hypnotic beat of his passing. If not this year then when?
When would football’s top brass salute the man who treasures the ball above all others? A man who regularly completes more passes in a game than the opposing team combined. One who weaves and darts about the pitch creating quick-fire triangles despite pit bulls snapping at him.
In any other year, perhaps in any other generation Xavi would have won comfortably. But we live in the age of Leo. We have witnessed the birth, the initial steps, the ascent and now conformation of a legend. Fifty three goals in fifty two appearances in 2010. Many of them bewildering in inception and bewitching in execution.
South Africa is the stick to beat him with but Messi played well this summer. The reason for his lack of goals was he was trying to be Argentina’s Xavi as well as Messi. That and some simple bad luck in encountering a goalkeeper in Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama who described his own performance against Argentina as “divine” as he repelled an almost possessed Messi time and time again.
He has two more world cups at something approaching his peak in which to silence any internationally influenced doubters. To excel at tournaments such as the world cup a player needs to be injury free, playing as part of a settled team and be well coached. Messi had only one of that three criteria.
Xavi it must be noted plays alongside team-mates in Sergio Busquets and Iniesta in the centre of the Spanish midfield. That is not to downplay his monumental level of performance but it is undoubtedly a factor in the maintenance of his club form with the international side.
Messi’s level for Barcelona has not dipped for over two years. The have been sporadic disappointments when a system such as Inter Milan’s last April chokes him of space but in the main it has been a whirl of goals and assists. His shredding of Arsenal in the champions league quarter-final has already donned a mythical edge. Left-foot smash into the top corner followed by a right foot smash into the top corner. A full pelt scoop over the keeper for the hat-trick. A mere shot through the legs for four.
It has become almost mundane now, watching his brilliance every weekend. His duel with Cristiano Ronaldo atop of the picchi standings is compulsive viewing. Perhaps the difference between the two is best summed up in their free-kick approach. The brash Ronaldo with the gun slingers run-up and often scattergun result. Messi, with a careful stroke, like a golfer in a bunker teasing it towards its destination.
It is a duel that will drink ink for years but my money is on the Argentinean to stay centre stage. After all, he has Xavi directing him.
No comments:
Post a Comment