As a Barcelona supporter, it was great to see Lionel Messi put a hat trick on Atletico Madrid in the 1st leg of their Round of 16 Copa Del Rey tie at the Vicente Calderon.
Right now, Messi is Barca’s 4th or 5th most valuable player behind Puyol, Xavi, Eto’o and Iniesta which is more a tribute to Barcelona’s system of player development and acqusition than Messi’s talent. His success at Barca is no doubt a product of his talent and the supreme talents of his teammates.
Certainly his team is good but Messi has his moments like the hat trick vs. Real Madrid in 2007 and the Maradona-like Golazo of the Decade against Getafe in the 1st leg of the 2007 Copa Del Rey semifinal.
Los Colchoneros
For Los Albicelestes, his senior side performances are still erratic as evidenced by Argentina’s struggles in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying where La Pulga is not in the Top 10 in goal scoring not to mention his disappearance in the Copa America final vs. Brazil. On the positive end, Messi set up the gold medal winning goal for Argentina against Nigeria in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Diego A. Maradona has already named Messi as his “successor” which hopefully means Lionel will follow Maradona’s positive on the pitch exploits and not the negative off the pitch ones.
Obviously at 21, He still has a lot to learn so let’s not crown him with greatness yet. For Argentina & Barcelona fans, the hope is that Messi doesn’t believe all the hype and his head doesn’t swell. If his head does get too big the crown of greatness will not fit and then his vast potential will be wasted.
