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Madrid, Nov 8 (IANS) Renowned Italian coach Fabio Capello has said he believes that FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi and legends Diego Maradona and Pele are the greatest ever footballers.
The former Real Madrid coach praised Messi, noting that he agrees with Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli, who said there should be a separate World Player of the Year award for Messi and one for all other players, reports Efe.
Capello pointed out that it is "true" that Messi is "a world star".
"Pele, Maradona and Messi: they are the three best players in the history of football," the Italian coach said on Monday, according to Spanish newspaper AS.They make you get out of your seat and you give them a standing ovation at the end of the game," the former Juventus coach added.
"Thank you, Messi, for everything you treat us with. Best of luck with your health, for us it is very important: we always want to see you on the field," Capello said.
Messi was absolutely brilliant for Barcelona when they played Sevilla on Sunday. His team were trailing 1-0 when Messi decided he was going to try and turn this game around single-handedly.
The Argentine dropped deeper into his own half and started to influence the game from his defense. The goal he scored in the 43rd minute came to fruition because of his endeavor and desire to have more of the ball and get things moving.
Sevilla could not handle the Argentine in the second half and were completely clueless as to formulating a way to stop Messi from running the show. It wasn;t long before Messi provided for Luis Suarez to score what would be the winner.
Messi did pick up a late yellow card after the referee deemed him to have wasted time. But the club will appeal the decision and try and get it revoked. Barcelona are only a few games away from the EL Clasico and want to ensure their main man is in no danger of picking up a suspension.
Here' what the club said about the same. “The club have presented an appeal against the yellow card that Leo Messi received on Sunday n the match against Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan, which Barca won 2-1 thanks to a goal from the Argentine.”
Whether it will get overturned will depend on the seriousness of the booking and whether the referee made a fair judgment call on the incident.
--IANS
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