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Happy 24th birthday, Lionel Messi

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Lionel Messi's list of accomplishments is breathtaking, and the scary thing is, he's far from done.

Between all of the goals (180 of them in seven seasons with Barcelona), assists, mazy runs, two World Player of the Year awards, three UEFA Champions League titles and a various array of other trophies, it's hard to believe that Messi is just 24.

While the Barca and Argentina star turns another year older today, here's a salute to the best player in the world:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmIGnheZhMw]

Comments

  1. Glad you said it so I didn’t have to. Pele is better, end of.

    Messi won’t even be part of the conversation until he gets 500 goals and at least one World Cup.

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  3. Pele also had two Copa Libertadoes titles by the time he was 24, which undercuts your point about the relative quality of the Brazilian leauge (which had non-MLS quality players like Garrincha and Jairzinho), particularly as one of Pele’s most famous games at the time was against European champs Benfica, who Santos killed. To go along with the two World Cups. Its obviously impossible to compare eras, much less countries, but Pele has a point. Is Koufax the best pitcher ever because he had 5 insane years? Nope. If Messi is still Messi in 5 years, he’ll have a much stronger argument. But there will also be a hint of good club fortune unless he starts playing well for Argentina. In any event, one can argue all day whether Mays was better than Babe Ruth, but there will only ever be one Babe Ruth and Pele is that for football.

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  4. I was not impressed with the clip. It is like watching a movie preview that jumps around so much that you can’t even see what happened.

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  5. Pele had 1 world title that he contributed significantly to and one that he was a spectator for outside of the first game. He had 356 goals in the Brazilian league which was basically the equivalent of in MLS at the time by the time he was 24. His total for his career (oficially not the inflated Romario-esque total of 1200+) is 589 in 605. Leo has 180 goals in 177 games which is a much better per game average. (and accomplished in an infinitely stronger league)
    A person can prefer Pele and they’d have a rock solid argument, but Messi at this stage can legitimately be held by someone to be the greatest ever. He has skills never before seen.

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  10. Every other club in the world is a major step down, forget Inter Milan, Bayern, Arsenal, etc. even ManU and Real Madrid. Unless that changes, why would he leave?

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  13. Do you guys ever see Messi leaving Barca? I mean dam he’s 24 and he’s done everything he can possibly do with them, i wouldn’t want to see him leave but at the same time i would like to see him conquer different leagues as well, that would be amazing if he could go to the PL and win it, and the CL again but with a different team. Ofcourse he doesn’t have to move right now, i’m saying maybe at 27ish. In my eyes he doesnt have nething else to prove, it would just be exciting to watch

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  18. we are very lucky to be able to live in a time of such a great player. its like living in the baseball days of babe ruth and willie mays. we get to see history every time he steps on the pitch. truly the best

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  25. Hey Avi…you want to wish him a happy birthday?

    Buy an F-ing Hallmark and send it to him. Keep the man-crush to yourself.

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  26. Wow. Thank you for posting. 99.9% of youtube highlight clips look like they are made by a 12 year old with a wanna-be-gangster complex. Refreshing to see a tasteful clip that does some justice to the once-in-a-century talent that is Leonel Messi.

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