Argentina v France - Sun 18th Dec, 15:00 | Final | World Cup 2022

Match Result Prediction

  • Total voters
    212
  • Poll closed .
If I could write the script for tomorrow, I would write it exactly like the QPR game, except I'd swap the goalscorers.

Zabaleta opening goal -> Messi
Dzeko late header to equalise -> Otamendi
Aguero's late winner -> Alvarez
 
Xhavenjoe said:
But he's not.
Ask 45 million Argentinians and they’ll give you the correct answer
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What are the actual arguments for it being Maradona though?

- He won a World Cup and Messi hasn't...

... that's it. And that record might not even last until Monday morning.

Maradona was an exceptional technician, incredibly entertaining to watch and often the player who dragged his team through games when they were struggling. Messi is all of those things AND a far better goalscorer AND a better assister.

Maradona retired about 25 years ago. In 25 years, I think most Argentinians will recognise Messi as being the better player. Nostalgia is a hell of a thing, that's why half the clowns in England are still pretending Gerrard was better than De Bruyne.

It's not Maradona people are in love with, it's the memory of how much better they think football used to be in the 90s.

Also, I don't doubt that many Argentinians would call Maradona the best of all time, but they aren't unbiased. It's well known that Messi is quite unpopular with many Argentinians for reasons that have nothing to do with football. I should probably have led with that to be honest.
 
Xhavenjoe said:
And what are your arguments for it being Messi?
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Far more goals, far more assists, a far better trophy cabinet, significantly better longevity, far better record in the Champions League... just about everything that really matters in football. Maradona undoubtedly has a better record in the World Cup and that is literally the only area in which he edges Messi.
 
MarsLlama said:
Far more goals, far more assists, a far better trophy cabinet, significantly better longevity, far better record in the Champions League.
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Stick Messi with that Napoli and Argentinian team along with an addiction problem and he wouldn't have been up to Maradona standard.
My grand daughter insists that One Direction were better than The Beatles and quotes stats off Google like record sales, hits on Spotify and good looks.
There is nothing wrong with your points above but I've seen them both at their best and worst and know who I'd want to see.
Messi is a superb player, the best thats been around in the" Sky TV" era.
I cannot see anyone coming close to Messi at the moment but my opinion he is still behind Pele and Maradona.
 
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Xhavenjoe said:
Stick Messi with that Napoli and Argentinian team along with an addiction problem and he wouldn't have been up to Maradona standard.
My grand daughter insists that One Direction were better than The Beatles and quotes stats off Google like record sales, hits on Spotify and good looks.
There is nothing wrong with your points above but I've seen them both at their best and worst and know who I'd want to see.
Messi is a superb player, the best thats been around in the" Sky TV" era.
I cannot see anyone coming close to Messi at the moment but my opinion he is still behind Pele and Maradona.
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Messi didn't have an addiction problem, and he was never forced to drop down to a Napoli-level side, and it seems incredibly unfair to mark him down for that.

Otherwise we might as well hold our hands up and say that Pep is not as good a manager as Klopp. After all, he's never done it at a weaker side.

But also, the young people's on the Beatles is objectively wrong, and we can go back and verify it by listening to every single song the Beatles ever released and confirming that yep, it's better than One Direction's bullshit. If we want to watch Maradona, we mostly have to watch videos of his highlights, that were made specifically to show off how great he was, so we don't remember the bad times like we do with Messi.
 
MarsLlama said:
Messi didn't have an addiction problem, and he was never forced to drop down to a Napoli-level side, and it seems incredibly unfair to mark him down for that.

Otherwise we might as well hold our hands up and say that Pep is not as good a manager as Klopp. After all, he's never done it at a weaker side.
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I give up.
You win.
 
Xhavenjoe said:
Exactly.
I'm old enough to have seen Maradona and Pele and they were the tops.
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I saw Pele too as a very young boy on TV (in black and white) and then when he came to the US well past his prime live. The player I remember most from that era in terms of making and impression on me is Cruyff which is why I still root for the Dutch but all the shit other sides pulled to stop Pele (deliberately hurting him) and some of the goals, runs and passes I saw him make were mind-boggling, at least to a child. That said, Messi has done so much with less athletically (size/strength-wise) I’m happy to say he’s best if people really want to argue about it. As long as we’re all clear that Messi is better than Ronaldo.
 
Cityfan said:
Is it wrong that one of the reasons I want the Argies to win is because of my dislike of Ronaldo?
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Why the dislike? He has been great in my eyes. If only he could have stayed with them longer. Disrupted manure, taken a whole wad of dough, taken a place in the squad, p*sad off their board, fans and Sky! Can u really be upset by all that?
 
LesBleuMiserable said:
Why the dislike? He has been great in my eyes. If only he could have stayed with them longer. Disrupted manure, taken a whole wad of dough, taken a place in the squad, p*sad off their board, fans and Sky! Can u really be upset by all that?
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To right I'm upset. If he hadn't gone there they may have stuck with Ole.
 
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