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Past quotes have emerged from the great Johan Cruyff in which he predicted Lionel Messi's unprecedented success in the Ballon d'Or. The Dutch legend had correctly predicted that the Paris Saint-Germain man will win multiple Ballons d'Or in his career.
The Argentine icon, who is celebrating his 35th birthday today (June 24), has won the individual award a record seven times. He has also scored 767 goals for club and country and claimed four Champions League titles with Barcelona.
He is regarded as one of the very best to ever grace a football pitch. On his birthday, Give Me Sport revisited some of the comments the now PSG forward received from legendary players earlier in his career.
The most notable prediction bestowed upon him was arguably from Barcelona and Dutch icon Cruyff. He made a frighteningly accurate prediction back in 2012 when it came to the diminutive forward's success in the Ballon d'Or.
The late great Cruyff said:
“For the world of football, Messi is a treasure because he is a role model for children around the world… Messi will be the player to win the most Ballons d’Or in history. He will win five, six, seven. He is incomparable. He’s in a different league.”
Quotes from football legends on Lionel Messi revisited on the occasion of his 35th birthday
The Qatar World Cup later this year is likely to be Messi's final chance to claim international football's biggest tournament. It is one major honour that has elluded him throughout his career.
To celebrate the Argentina captain's big day, Give Me Sport went through the archives to seek other glowing reviews from some of the greats. One of them was the late Diego Maradona, who claimed:
“I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi. Messi is a genius.”
Meanwhile, former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson once stated:
“Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff because they are all great players. Lionel Messi without question comes into that category.”
The site also quoted France and Real Madrid great Zinedine Zidane, who proclaimed:
“He is always going forwards. He never passes the ball backwards or sideways. He has only one idea, to run towards the goal. So as a football fan, just enjoy the show.”
