After the post below about George Best and football, l had the privilege of watching Lionel Messi destroy Bayer Leverkusen in the European Cup (in old money), nabbing 5 goals for himself in a 7-1 win.
I've posted many times about Messi, as he is easily the best player in the world, and possibly of all time. The trouble is, it's hard to compare, because if you could put Maradona, Best, Cruyff or Pele at their peak into the Barcelona team of nowadays (possibly the greatest side of all time), they might also produce the goods on a large scale.
Saying that, it's pretty hard to imagine how they could improve on what Messi is doing at the moment.
Last night was his seventh hat-trick of the season, and he will undoubtedly get more (unless someone breaks his legs).
He is also someone who plays as though he is still in love with the game and obviously gets a huge amount of enjoyment from it. It might be an illusion, but you get the impression that money is not the driving force behind him, it's the sheer pleasure of playing and the glory and plaudits that come with his uniqueness.
You half expect his mother to come onto the pitch and drag him off for his tea, telling him he's been out too long and the other kids have had enough (and his fish fingers, chips and peas are getting cold).
Sheer brilliance.
toodle pip
