MESSI , A MAGICIAN IF HE IS IN BARCA JERSEY but ??? ONLY A FOOTBALLER IN ARGENTINE JERSEY........WATCH THE BEST OF MESSI BELOW.... AND WATCH THE JERSEY WHEN HE SCORES SOME DREAMY GOALS

Messi as a goal keeper(Photo taken by PUYOL)

"Messi is great but  to become a legend like  Zidane or Maradona, he must achieve success with the national team. We can not compare him with these great champions,Until Messi lifts the World Cup for  Argentina"(Ronaldo)

But in terms of greatness, Messi has not yet matched the impact of Maradona

The first reason is Messi has yet to win a World Cup. In age when many view the Champions League as a more difficult and prestigious competition to win, If, when it is all said and done, Messi has failed to win a World Cup it would not diminish his own legacy. But that very success does enhance Maradona's.

To win a World Cup requires not only nerve and talent needed to beat teams of the world's best players, but also the ability to withstand concentrated pressure without a break for over a month from both within a squad and an expectant nation watching. Maradona did this in 1986 and so nearly again four years later, in the former doing so with the kind of inspirational, individual brilliance that has probably never been matched.

At the point in his career he is now, Messi's international experiences are not altogether different to Maradona's. Both burst onto scene with strong performances in the world youth tournaments of their respective eras. The two also experienced indifferent World Cup performances. Maradona's World Cup came aged 26 too, so hopefully Messi should still have time to play in the tournament again.

The second reason why he has not yet matched Maradona's greatness, and perhaps won't, is a little more controversial. That is, what Maradona did for Napoli is greater than the role Messi has played in the current success of Barcelona.

This is not to undermine Messi's and Barcelona's achievements. If they secure what seems an inevitable third consecutive La Liga and a second Champions League in three years, it will cap a season in which they have played some of the most beautifully effective football the game has ever seen. But for Messi this has come for one of the world's great clubs in a team that also consists of Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, David Villa, Carles Puyol, etc. While he is undoubtedly the lead star, he has an impeccable supporting cast.

Maradona joined Napoli in 1984 when the club had previously never won a championship. This was in an era when Serie A was unquestionably the best league in the world. Juventus had Platini and Laudrup, Milan had Gullit and Van Basten, Inter had Matthäus, the competition was tough and Maradona inspired Napoli to their first two Scudettos, Maradona was undoubtedly the catalyst for Napoli's rise to the top in that era. Without him this club was not a contender, the majority of that squad was after all built around him.(....taken from  cooper's column

MESSI is undoubtedly a genius,a wizard playing for BARCELONA....but he has to prove a lot as an ARGENTINE FOOTBALLER
 PLEASE VERIFY AND BELIEVE...HE IS REALLY A CLUB MAN...

Career statistics

As of 11 March 2012^[

Club

Club	Season	League[220]
		Apps	Goals
Barcelona C	2003–04 3ª	8	5
Barcelona B	2003–04 2ªB	5	0
	2004–05 2ªB	17	6
Total		30	11

Club	Season	League			Cup			Champions League			Supercup			UEFA Super Cup			Club World Cup			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Barcelona	2004–05	7	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	—			—			—			9	1	0
	2005–06	17	6	3	2	1	0	6	1	1	0	0	0	—			—			25	8	4
	2006–07	26	14	2	2	2	1	5	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	36	17	3
	2007–08	28	10	12	3	0	0	9	6	1	—			—			—			40	16	13
	2008–09	31	23	11	8	6	2	12	9	5	—			—			—			51	38	18
	2009–10	35	34	10	3	1	0	11	8	0	1	2	0	1	0	1	2	2	0	53	47	11
	2010–11	33	31	18	7	7	3	13	12	3	2	3	0	—			—			55	53	24
	2011–12	25	30	8	6	2	4	7	12	4	2	3	2	1	1	1	2	2	1	43	50	20
Total		202	149	64	32	19	10	64	49	14	7	8	2	3	1	2	4	4	1	312	230	93

International

^[34][221]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Argentina U20	2005	16	11
Total		16	11
Argentina U23	2008	5	2
Total		5	2
Argentina	2005	5	0
	2006	7	2
	2007	13	6
	2008	8	2
	2009	10	3
	2010	10	2
	2011	13	4
	2012	1	3
Total		67	22

Career totals

Professional career totals
Teams	Apps	Goals	Goals per game
Clubs	312	230	0.74
National team	67	22	0.33
Olympic final	5	2	0.4
Total	384	254	0.66

                                           MARADONA, THE GREAT

            Maradona won FIFA Player of the Century award which was to be decided by votes on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury. Maradona won the Internet based poll by wide margins, garnering 53.6% of the votes against 18.53% for Pelé.

Along with his time at Napoli, international football is where Maradona found his fame. Playing for the Albicelestes of the Argentina national football team, he participated in four consecutive FIFA World Cuptournaments, leading Argentina to victory in 1986 and to second place in 1990.

He made his full international debut at age 16, against Hungary on 27 February 1977. At age 18, he played the World Youth Championship for Argentina, and was the star of the tournament, shining in their 3–1 final win over the Soviet Union. On 2 June 1979, Maradona scored his first senior international goal in a 3–1 win against Scotland at Hampden Park. He is the only player to win the Golden Ball at both the FIFA U-20 World Cup and FIFA World Cup, in 1979 and 1986

Statistics(MARADONA)

Club	Season	League	League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1976	Argentinos Juniors	Primera División	11	2	–		–		–		11	2
1977			49	19	–		–		–		49	19
1978			35	25	–		–		–		35	25
1979			27	26	–		–		–		27	26
1980			45	43	–		–		–		45	43
1981	Boca Juniors		40	28	–		–		–		40	28
1982–83	Barcelona	La Liga	20	11	5	3	4	5	6	4	35	23
1983–84			16	11	4	1	3	3	–		23	15
1984–85	Napoli	Serie A	30	14	6	3	–		–		36	17
1985–86			29	11	2	2	–		–		31	13
1986–87			29	10	10	7	2	0	–		41	17
1987–88			28	15	9	6	2	0	–		39	21
1988–89			26	9	12	7	12	3	–		50	19
1989–90			28	16	3	2	5	0	–		36	18
1990–91			18	6	3	2	4	2	1	0	26	10
1992–93	Sevilla	La Liga	26	5	3	3	–		–		29	8
1993–94	Newell's Old Boys	Primera División	5	0	–		–		–		5	0
1995–96	Boca Juniors		24	5	–		–		–		24	5
1996–97			1	0	–		1	0	–		2	0
1997–98			5	2	–		–		–		5	2
Total	Argentina		242	150	–		1	0	–		242	151
	Spain		62	27	12	7	7	8	6	4	87	46
	Italy		188	81	45	29	25	5	1	0	259	115
Career total			492	258	57	36	33	13	7	4	589	311

• Other - League Cup (Spain) & Super Cup (Italy)

^[84]

Argentina national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1977	3	0
1978	1	0
1979	8	3
1980	10	7
1981	2	1
1982	10	2
1983	0	0
1984	0	0
1985	10	6
1986	10	7
1987	6	4
1988	3	1
1989	7	0
1990	10	1
1991	0	0
1992	0	0
1993	4	0
1994	7	2
Total	91	34