12/21/24
April 20, 2007
Leo Messi does a Maradona.: The insanely-talented 19-year-old Barcelona midfielder shows why so many call him the new Maradona in a 5-2 drubbing of Getafe. For the second goal of the match, Messi first picks up the ball at the centerline, then jinks, cuts and scurries past 1-2-3-4-5 (the keeper)-6 players before slicing the ball into goal. There's a link to video of the goal in the article but I'll embed clips of both Messi's magic and Maradona's goal for the ages inside. Es fantastico.
posted by worldcup2002 to soccer at 08:18 PM - 23 comments
The similarity between that goal and Maradona's is uncanny.
posted by rcade at 08:41 PM on April 20, 2007
That's what the article said. LOL.
posted by worldcup2002 at 10:31 PM on April 20, 2007
Totally uncanny. Thanks for this, wc2k2. As much as I'm a Barcelona hater, that was a beaut. Plus, it's great fodder for those that get the NBA but not soccer. Dwyane/AI/or whoever else taking the ball from midcourt to a slam dunk? That's what it is, with twice the defenders.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:17 PM on April 20, 2007
Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for posting. And Ufez, not sure I understand the correlation... if one understands the NBA, but not soccer, one needs to assume an NBA match with 2-3 total baskets per game if comparing to a simple midcourt steal-and-dunk to begin to understand the novelty of that goal. In short, the NBA and that are incomparable. Besides, (stereotype to follow) Americans are too A.D.D. to appreciate soccer and its subtleties which often result in 0-0, 1-0, 2-1 results. That's not a dig on Americans so much as it is a dig on the nature of a soccer match. It truly needs to be played competively to be understood and appreciated. It lacks that dunk-and-pump, touchdown-and-dance high-scoring-tv-bling-bling drama that makes the NBA and NFL far more user friendly to our HDTV sedentary masses. Sorry worldcup2002, didn't mean to digress. Beauty it is.
posted by koyaan at 12:42 AM on April 21, 2007
It truly needs to be played competively to be understood and appreciated. I don't know about that. I've played no more soccer than your average american does over the course of elementary & high school, but I certainly prefer watching it over any other sport.
posted by juv3nal at 02:59 AM on April 21, 2007
Kooyan, good point about the greater importance of making a goal in soccer than a single basket in basketball. Maybe a hockey analogy would work better? I'm not sure what else you said about how the NBA is incomparable (I couldn't finish your post. It was too, hey, what was my point?) but I bet it was good.
posted by apoch at 03:10 AM on April 21, 2007
Soccer and Americans. What koyaaan said seems reasonable, but if Americans are too 'something' to appreciate soccer, how do you explain the love of baseball. Maybe we just don't like soccer as much? Great goal, and the Messi goal was MUCH more impressive than the Maradona.
posted by sfts2 at 07:37 AM on April 21, 2007
That's what the article said. LOL. Are you suggesting I didn't read it? I did. I'm just having trouble believing what I saw. Besides, (stereotype to follow) Americans are too A.D.D. to appreciate soccer and its subtleties ... I don't think that stereotype is true any more. Maybe I'm generalizing too much based on my own experience, but the sports fans I went to college with in Texas are all now soccer fanatics. SportsFilter draws 99 percent of its visits from the U.S., according to our stats, but the game fires people up here more than anything outside football and baseball.
posted by rcade at 09:16 AM on April 21, 2007
Here are the two goals played side-by-side [dailymotion.com*] Stunning things of beauty they both are too. Balance seems to be the thing that all the great players have. They keep their balance while those around them are losing theirs. I'd have to say Messi's goal (if you disregard context) is better. *Does anyone else find that website name amusing, or am I just too peurile?
posted by JJ at 09:18 AM on April 21, 2007
Lousy defense.
posted by netbros at 09:20 AM on April 21, 2007
Do they keep defibrilators on hand for foreign soccer play-by-play announcers and train the color commentators in their use?
posted by rcade at 09:47 AM on April 21, 2007
Put the stereotype talk down. "Americans" is not the name of one person. Many Americans don't need a basketball analogy to appreciate how phenomenal, special and utterly gorgeous Messi's (and Maradona's) goal is, and many Americans would vastly prefer to watch soccer than the NBA. (Actually, count me in both groups.) And my attention span is perfectly long enough, thank you. Ooh look, NASCAR's on!
posted by chicobangs at 10:00 AM on April 21, 2007
I like Maradona's little spin at the start of his move that loses at least one player. The change of pace and direction after that is just marvellous. I'd have to say this was the rawer move given the kind of hacking that was going on at the World Cup, and Maradona scoring at the end while being tackled from behind is indicative of that. If he hadn't scored, it should've been a penalty. This was more trained dancer pirouetting and taking the slings from the lumbering thugs. Grit mixed with beauty. Messi's goal on the other hand had a more pristine quality where he rode tackles basically by bouncing off players or just ghosting by them. This was sheer power and grace. I'd say today's tighter policing of the game has opened up the possibility for this kind of goal. I'm not saying it's easier because you still have to have the skill and courage (and insane genius) to pull it off. The stuff we see yellow cards for in the middle of the pitch used to just get a talking to in the 80s. Don't do any statistical comparison on that, but I think we have tightened up the carding to really punish cynical fouls. And I'm all for that. Golaso, Messi! And great link, JJ!
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:24 PM on April 21, 2007
Absoluely tremendous goal from Messi. I found myself involuntarily yelling as he made the final moves. The concordance with Maradona's greatest goal makes it that much more magnificent. From the article: "Messi's face was on the back of the Catalan daily Sport, with a note saying: "If you want to disguise yourself as God, simply cut this out and put it on."" Awesome.
posted by Venicemenace at 01:05 PM on April 21, 2007
WOW!! JJ that side-by-side rocks!!! In retrospect, I don't think my a.d.d. comment was quite accurate, my point was that most of a match is played in the midfield with seemingly inconsequential exchanges of possession that can be uninteresting if one hasn't played. I can remember games I've played and/or watched where possession time is 80/20, or more skewed and the team with little possession wins due to poor defensive recovery, positioning, or even a miffed pass; i.e. single mistake or call. A team can dominate in all stats (except goals) and lose. I believe that what makes soccer unique (or subtle). Thoughts? Netbros: I totally agree, that jump-in defending was crap. My old coach's thoughts, "contain, contain, contain, contain" under breath, "then hack if necessary"
posted by koyaan at 04:46 PM on April 21, 2007
thanks for that link JJ, that really puts it into perspective. I saw the goal occupying 6 to 10 of the top 100 spots on the most viewed youtube sports clips the other day and it looked like a beauty. It brought to mind the Maradona clip, but that was crazy.
posted by gspm at 10:18 PM on April 21, 2007
Great goal, and the Messi goal was MUCH more impressive than the Maradona. posted by sfts2 at 7:37 AM CDT on April 21 Maradona´s goal came in a World Cup and against its archrival England... The quality of the English defenders is far superior than those from the Getafe. So I don´t get how you view Messi´s goal as "MUCH" more impressive. Impressive it was, but not more than Diego´s.
posted by zippinglou at 01:05 AM on April 22, 2007
Here is the hockey equivalent of that goal.
posted by grum@work at 01:36 AM on April 22, 2007
And, off the top of my head, some company for Lionel : Saeed al Owairan George Weah Zlatan Ibrahimovic
posted by Mr Bismarck at 03:58 AM on April 22, 2007
Sick, sick, sick! Nice links. Thanks.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:00 AM on April 22, 2007
Good links, guys - thanks. The one from The Guardian to Messi's goal was taken down for copyright reasons. Maradona and Messi are simply extraordinary. I wouldn't want to rate them against each other, but if I did, then El Pibe D'Oro's would be the one - just because (as has been said), the defenders were not just better but also more likely to hack him back in in '86. But for sheer movement, change of pace and artistry, that Weah goal gets me ever time.
posted by owlhouse at 08:27 PM on April 22, 2007
I can't put it any better than a friend put it (rather sarcastically) in an email earlier today: "Plus, are the Getafe defenders at the same level as Reidy, Fenwick and Terry Butcher, whom Diego outstripped on that hot Mexico day? Don't forget, they were English, unfit, it was 42 centigrade in the sun and they had prepared for the world cup by pinting it in some Mexican club night after night. Getafe probably do weights, eat pasta and rice, and train twice a day." I'd have to say I agree a little bit with that. Watch the Maradonna one and watch Peter Ried (number 16) first getting skinned and then trying to track back and just giving up.
posted by JJ at 10:02 PM on April 22, 2007
Argh, looks like I can't embed the video. So here's the links. Messi's goal vs Getafe, Spanish Primera Liga, April 18, 2007 Maradona's goal vs England, 1986 World Cup