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The Lionel Messi vs Diego Maradona debate has been one of the hottest topics in world football over the last couple of years.
Former Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert has given the nod to the Paris Saint-Germain forward over his Argentine counterpart. He remarked:
"Once I told a colleague of yours who asked me if I would stop Messi in a heads-up, and I said yes, I would stop everything. The journalist asked me how I would do it and I answered: Control I have it from the Playstation, I stop it when I want. It is the only way to stop Lionel."
"In Argentina, many put that Maradona is better than Messi, for me Maradona was predictable and Messi is unpredictable. That is the difference."
The 56-year-old added:
"Lionel has the ball tied to his foot, he plays so naturally and if he faces you hand in hand you don’t know whether to run away to reduce him or stay because you know that there is always a new technique to what a normal player is."
"When Messi is going to take a free-kick, I have to try to guess it to get there, but when Maradona kicked them, for example when I had to face him with Velez and that famous free-kick outside the barrier, I already knew that he was going to hit the outside because of how it stopped. Then I fly and get it out."
Lionel Messi versus Diego Maradona: A debate for the ages
The debate over who is greater between Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona has been around for quite some time and will surely continue in the coming years. Both players have had careers to cherish, achieving tremendous success at club and international level.
Lionel Messi has had a more successful club career, and he also took a massive step forward by leading Argentina to claim the Copa America this year. Despite that, some people believe he still needs to win the World Cup to surpass Diego Maradona.
The PSG superstar will get a shot at the prestigious trophy once again when the tournament takes place in Qatar next year.
