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Page 1: Messi feature

SPECIAL REPoRtSPECIAL REPoRtC6 C7Gulf News | Tuesday, December 11, 2012 | gulfnews.com HHHH gulfnews.com | Tuesday, December 11, 2012 | Gulf News

A goalscorer beyond compareRecord-breaking Lionel Messi doesn’t just score lots of goals, he does so with style, making him the most complete goal-getter of all time

Dubai

Scoring goals, according to many football players and pundits, is the hardest skill in the game.

Indeed, even the most prolific of strikers on Planet Earth are, at times, afflicted by the sudden and inexplicable in-ability to hit the back of the net.

But in the rarefied realms of Planet Fantasy Football, the sole preserve of record-break-ing Barcelona star Lionel Messi, frustrations such as goal-scor-ing droughts and fallow peri-ods involving losses of form are non-existent. Instead, in Mes-si’s utopian universe, there are only torrents of goals and a rich harvest of consistently incred-ible performances.

For, to paraphrase Shake-speare, if goals be the food of football, Messi wants excess of them. It is this glorious greed for goal-scoring which led to him surpassing German legend Gerd Muller’s 40-year-old world re-cord of 85 goals in a calendar year — a tally so seemingly un-touchable that few football afi-cionados had heard of it — on Sunday with a brace in Barcelo-na’s 2-1 win at Real Betis. Messi now has 86 goals to his name in 2012 with potentially three games left to play before the year is out. No wonder Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, once said Messi was akin to a “PlayStation player”.

To further illustrate the scale of Messi’s extraordinary achieve-ment, the great Brazilian Pele is ‘only’ third in this pantheon of great goal-getters with a ‘mere’ 75 goals to his name in 1958.

Stylish and sublimeWhat makes Messi’s landmark

feat all the more special is that he is not an orthodox forward in the vein of Muller, who was chiefly renowned for his predatory pen-alty-box poaching.

Indeed, Messi’s goal-scoring repertoire is far more stylish and varied than the man who was known as “Der Bomber” — the Argentine capable of making the net bulge in myriad ways unlike the more one-di-mensional German.

Through his own sublime skill — the impossibly adhe-sive, scampering feet, light-ning-quick changes of control, breathtaking bursts of speed and slaloming runs — the little magi-cian frequently fashions chances from which he himself can score.

One of his most memorable efforts, a stunning, mazy drib-ble from the halfway line ending in a sumptuous finish against Getafe in 2007, bore uncanny similarities to Diego Mara-dona’s legendary strike for Ar-gentina against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final. It was arguably an even greater effort, given that the final touch to Maradona’s tour de force was applied via a sliding tackle from England’s Terry Butcher.

Like the great Bayern Munich and West Germany striker of the 1960s and 70s Muller, Messi is not averse to prodding home

so-called ‘ugly goals’ from close range. He is deadly from outside the penalty box, too, as Arsenal fans will recall after he lashed in a ferocious equaliser in a four-goal virtuoso perfor-mance for Barcelona at the Nou Camp against the Gunners in the 2010 Champions League.

This goalscorer supreme has also developed into a prodi-gious taker of free-kicks, which was spectacularly illustrated in Barcelona’s El Clasico encoun-ter with Real Madrid in October when he curled in a delightful set-piece from 30 yards out.

Absolute beautiesHe’s therefore not just a great

goal-scorer, but a scorer of great goals, even with his head — de-spite being a diminutive 5ft 7ins — as he showed when he nodded home Barcelona’s second goal in their 2-0 Champions League final destruction of Manchester United in 2009. His boss at Bar-celona, Tito Vilanova, perfectly encapsulated his star’s preter-natural goal-scoring ability thus: “Leo continually breaks records. His goal tally is spectacular. It takes other great players seven or eight seasons to score the amount of goals he scores in one season. Also, some of his goals are absolute beauties.”

So, how has a singular striker like Messi turned into an in-comparable goal machine?

It’s widely accepted that his status as the most potent play-er in football owes much to his former coach at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola. When Guardiola took over from Frank Rijkaard at the Nou Camp in 2008, Messi was a mercurial winger who regularly cut in from the left wing.

Guardiola, though, sensed his talisman would be even more effective if unleashed in a cen-tral role, and therefore gave him licence to roam in a position which has become known as ‘the false nine’. In other words, Messi is not a traditional cen-tral striker, or number 9, who exclusively prowls the penalty area waiting for the ball to come his way. Instead, he drops deep into midfield when required to join in attacks, many of which he initiates himself.

It was a tactical masterstroke from Guardiola, which has yielded jaw-dropping dividends year on year. In Guardiola’s first season, 2008-09, Messi netted 38 goals in all competitions for Barcelona. Since then, he has plundered 47, 53 and 73 goals for his club alone in the next three seasons up to the end of the 2011/12 campaign. The statistics he is compiling are quite outra-geous. He is Barcelona’s all-time leading goal-scorer at the age of only 25 with 283 goals; holds the record for the most La Liga hat-tricks in a single season (8); and he scored the most goals ever in a single season with 73 in 2011/12. And that’s to name but three of his never-ending and luminous collection of achievements.

All football lovers should, like Messi when he scores, thank a higher power for pro-viding us with a footballer of such striking abilities.

EDitorial CommEnt — D2

By Euan ReedieDeputy Sports Editor

❝I’ve said it a lot, it’s nice to beat records but the win for the team is what is important and the points dif-ference at the top.”

Lionel Messi | Barcelona star

❝It seems impossible to score so many goals, let’s hope he can add to the record in the games to come.”

Tito Vilanova | Barcelona manager

❝For me Messi is the best in the world. For the last few years he has played at a level of football we have never seen before.”

Ronaldinho | Ex-Barcelona star

❝When Messi has scored 1,283 goals like me, when he’s won three World Cups, we’ll talk about it.”

Pele | Brazilian legend

Muller, the man Messi eclipsed

bErlin

Lionel Messi broke Gerd Mul-ler’s 40-year-old record on Sunday for the most goals

scored in a single year, but the lifestyles of ‘Der Bomber’ and the magical Argentine could not be more different.

Messi was in double form for Barcelona at Real Betis in the 2-1 win to take his goal tally for the calendar year onto an incredible 86 — one more than the previous record of 85 set by Muller in 1972 for Bayern Mu-nich and West Germany.

At the peak of his career — when he scored the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final — Muller basked in the same god-like status Messi now enjoys.

But having battled alcoholism since his retirement in 1981, his public appearances are limited now to the occasional Munich match and a German television milkshake advert alongside cur-rent Bayern and Germany star Thomas Mueller.

“I ruined my life,” ‘Der Bomber’ admits having blasted an incredible 68 goals in his 62 appearances for his country.

He bowed out on the inter-national stage at just 28 years of age after hitting the winning goal in Munich as West Ger-many beat Holland 2-1 to win the 1974 World Cup. Mueller finished with 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games.

While Messi has been instru-mental in helping Barcelona en-joy a golden era in the club’s rich history, the same was true for Muller and Bayern in the 1970s.

In 1965, Muller, Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer in-spired the club to promotion to

the Bundesliga. Munich became champions for the first time in 1969, before claiming a hat-trick of domestic titles in 1972, 1973 and 1974. The dream team then won the European Cup three times from 1974 to 1976.

Impressive titles“Everything that FC Bayern

has become is due to Gerd Mul-ler and his goals,” said Becken-bauer, who captained Germany to the 1974 World Cup win and coached the 1990-title winning team. Muller was the club’s top scorer every season from 1964-65 to 1977-78, and the Bundes-liga’s leading marksman seven times.

His collection of personal awards is as impressive as the

titles Bayern won. At 21, he was voted German Player of the Year in 1967, then in 1970, he became the first German to be crowned European Footballer of the Year after winning the top scorer award at the Mexico 1970 World Cup. When his play-ing career ended after a three-year spell in the North Ameri-can League, Muller admits he descended into deep crisis and began drinking heavily.

Bayern’s current president Uli Hoeness helped get him back on his feet by offering him a con-tract in 1992; initially to look af-ter sponsors, scout for talent and coach strikers and goalkeepers. He later became a youth coach and first team assistant.

— AFP

The German was the goal king of the 1970s, before battling alcoholism when he retired

AP

Goal bound■■ the predatory Muller scoring the first of his two goals in

West Germany’s 3-0 win over the USSR in the final of the European Championships in Brussels on June 18, 1972.

Stunning set-piece

1At Atletico Madrid in February Messi proved decisive for Barcelona as only he can. With

the score locked at 1-1 with nine minutes remaining, Barcelona won a free-kick on the left-hand corner of the home side’s box. It looked an impossible angle from which to score, especially for a left-footer like Messi. But the little maestro, after a brief discus-sion with Xavi Hernandez, curled home an outlandish left-foot shot into the top right-hand corner of the net to the bewilderment of goal-keeper thibaut Courtois.

Audacious chip

2In a record-breaking, virtuoso performance in March, Messi be-came the first player

in Champions League history to score five goals in a match in Barcelona’s 7-1 thumping of Bayer Leverkusen. the sec-ond of his five goals was par-ticularly delightful; from the right-hand side of the box, running slightly away from goal, he produced a sublime right-foot chip over the Bayer goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

International brilliance

3Messi has often been criticised for not re-peating his club form for Argentina, but in

June’s friendly against Brazil he was in scintillating form. He scored a hat-trick (his 12th treble for club and coun-try in the 2011-12 season) in his country’s 4-3 win. His third goal, with just six min-utes remaining, was simply sensational; Messi picked up the ball near the halfway line on the right flank, cut inside Real Madrid’s Marcelo then hurtled towards the Brazilian penalty area. He then let fly from just outside the D with his left foot, lashing a stun-ning shot into the top corner of the net.

Fabulous free-kick

4Messi showcased his prodigious deadball skills again when he put Barcelona 2-1

ahead against Real Madrid in a pulsating El Clasico encounter at the Nou Camp in october. He left goalkeeper Iker Casillas helpless by ar-rowing a perfectly flighted free-kick into the top right-hand corner of the net from 30 yards out. Messi had ear-lier come to his side’s rescue in time-honoured fashion by firing home Barca’s equaliser into the roof of the net from close range.

Record-breaker

5the goal that broke the record on Sunday was a typically ac-complished and

memorable finish from Messi. Barcelona wing-back Adriano started the move, surging for-ward from deep and playing in Messi, who passed the ball to Andres Iniesta. the mid-field maestro then teed up Barcelona’s main man with a delightful backheel and Messi did the rest, delivering a crisp angled shot into the far corner of the net.

E.R.

Is he the best player in the world?

Dubai

Yesterday the world of football was marking 25-year-old Messi’s goal-

scoring feat. Gulf News spoke to its readers for their reaction to his record-breaking achieve-ment in scoring 86 goals in a calendar year.

Mazin Mohammad Saleh, a 22-year-old Sudanese student based in Sharjah and a Barcelo-na team supporter, hailed Messi as an outstanding player. How-ever, he believes credit should also go to his team’s midfielders.

He said: “I believe that the midfielders, specifically [Andrés] Iniesta and Xavier [Hernandez],

helped him beat this record.” Saleh believes that it is unlikely Messi’s record will be broken. “I don’t think anyone else will have Messi’s talent coupled with such a great team to sup-port him.”

Omnia Adel Al Dahshouri, a 23-year-old administrative as-sistant and a die-hard football fan, said: “Messi really has an unmatched talent; his upper-body strength really enhances his performance as a player.”

She, too, doubts his record will be beaten anytime soon. “He’s still very young and will be around for a long time. He’s not the best player in the world, but he is definitely one of the best.”

Praveen Raj, was full of ad-miration for Messi. “Everything about him makes him such a great player; his talent and en-ergy and presence in the field. The only person who will ever beat this record will be himself.

After [Diego] Maradona, Messi is definitely the best football player ever,” he said.

Ehab Hassan, an American-Palestinian project co-ordinator based in Dubai, disagreed that Messi’s landmark goal tally would never be beaten. He feels that there will always be new and more talented players to challenge the mark. He said: “Every generation of footballers is built to be more competitive for a changing style of play. I’m pretty sure no one knew that Muller’s record would be broken before Messi came into play.”

Hassan believes many factors make Messi an amazing player. “The fact that he has a small build and is more agile than the others helps harbour his intense skill. You cannot forget that he plays with a team that support him and they too are full of talent.”

— The writer is a trainee at Gulf News

Gulf News readers give their views on Argentine breaking world record

By Lameese HajissaSpecial to Gulf News

5topgoals

86goals netted by Messi in a calendar year — a record

Untouchable

85goals achieved by Gerd Muller in one year in 1972

Der Bomber

75goals scored by the Brazilian great, Pele, in 1958

Legend

LIONEL MESSI

■■ Birthdate: June 24, 1987 - age 25

■■ Birthplace: Rosario, Argentina■■ Height: 1.69m (5ft 7in)■■ Club: Barcelona since 2004■■ Major club honours: three

Champions Leagues, five league titles in Spain, two Spanish Cups, two Super Cups, two Club World Cups

■■ International caps: 76 (31

goals)■■ International honours:

olympic gold medal (2008)■■ Individual honours: three

Ballons d’or titles (2009, 2010, 2011)

■■ the man nicknamed La Pulga (the flea) has terrorised de-fences in La Liga and scored around a goal a game over the past three seasons — most of them spectacular.

factfiLE

86 66G OA L S GAMES

IN 2012

When the goalshave been scored

Where the goalshave been scored

How the goalshave been scored

Breakdown of Messi’scareer goals

14 12

60

5672

8612

52

3

13

La Liga

Champions League

FriendliesWorld Cupquali�ers

SpanishSuper Cup

Copa del Rey

7

For Argentina For Barcelona

0-15 mins4 18 14

11 16 23

15-30 mins 30-45 mins

Penalties Outsidepenalty box

Insidepenalty

box

4Neutral

20112012 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

43Home

39Away

3Head

8Right foot

75Le� foot

45-60 mins 60-75 mins 75-90 mins

86

59 6041

2231 12

3

How the record was achieved

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Do you think Messi is the greatest football player in history? Of his 86 goals in 2012, which was your favourite? Post a comment on our Facebook page or email us [email protected]

EPA

Celebration time■■ Barcelona striker Lionel Messi gestures after surpassing the record in the Spanish

La Liga at Benito Villamarin Stadium in Seville on Sunday.