Football's five greatest players of the 21st century

Forward of the century: Lionel Messi

Diego Maradona had labeled Lionel Messi, the little unassuming genius from Rosario, Argentina as his ‘successor’. The similarities are striking. The most talented player of his generation brings the crowd to the edge of their seats with his dribbling skills, his ability to skirt past the best of defenders with astounding ease, his outstanding pace and the speed at which he moves with the ball with his feet, just like the eccentric Maradona 25 years earlier. His similarities to Maradona became even more explicit in the 2006-07 season when he replicated Maradona’s most famous goals, the Hand of God and Goal of the Century against RCD Espanyol and Getafe FC respectively. After the departure of Ronaldinho, Messi became the true focal point of Barca with their play tailored to his needs. He squatted all before him the following season, the most famous being the 6-2 win at Real Madrid and helped his club to become the first ever to complete the ‘Sextuple’. The little maestro has only improved in leaps and bounds since then with his coach Guardiola labeling him as the ‘best player I’ve ever seen’ and Arsene Wenger calling him a ‘PlayStation’ with the ability to take advantage of even the smallest of mistakes. Messi has broken nearly all of Barcelona’s goalscoring records at just 24 years of age and won nearly every award club football has to offer and is the reigning 3-time FIFA World Player of the Year (FIFA Ballon D’Or since 2009). Contrary to what critics say, he has not been disappointing for Argentina. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, despite not scoring, he was his country’s most crucial player, playing a major hand in nearly all their goals and was Argentina’s best player despite the embarrassing exit to Germany. The little dribbler, who just seems to stroll past defenders with ridiculous ease, has in all probability not even hit his peak. This is most frightening to opposing teams. Will Messi be come to known as the greatest ever? Critics argue that ‘Messidona’ has already surpassed his idol despite not winning the FIFA World Cup yet. As a football fan, it will be interesting to see how much better the greatest player of his generation can get.

Lionel Messi skipping past defenders to replicate Diego Maradona’s ‘Goal of the Century’ against Getafe CF in the Copa Del Rey semifinal in 2007

Honorable mentions: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Raul, Andriy Shevchenko, Francesco Totti and Diego Forlan.