ddippset: in order to play well messi must score a hattrick and dribble 5 defenders. anything less, he is a flop.

ddippset: and switzerland! without messi, argentina would have gotten 1 point from bosnia. without messi argentina would have gotten 1 point from iran. (why? in both games he won them with the last kick of the ball). against nigeria, i cant tell. meaning they just might have faced france instead of switzerland and you know what the means, a probable second round exit. against switzerland, without messi they were destined to have a shootout but mascherano or lavezzi or any other argentina could never have made that run to set up angel.

ddippset:
against belgium, he danced around 3 midfielders to draw space and set up angel again. against holland he beat kyut and vlar on the right side to set up maxi who had an easier job than gotze had last night but he blew it. if maxi had scored from that assist, messi would have been man of the match definitely!

ddippset:
nowadays people like to talk mascherano; against iran nobody mentioned mascherano, against bosnia nobody, against nigeria nobody, against switzerland nobody, against belgium nobody, and then against holland for the first 80 mins nobody. with the match almost ending masch made a tackle to deny robben and all of a sudden mascherano became argentina's best player. some even go to the extent of saying masch was argentina's best player by a wide margin; for real?

ddippset:
seriously people are taking for granted how much a feat it is to play in a world cup final, win or lose simply because messi is involved. messi and argentina must be celebrated. messi almost single handedly dragged his country to a world cup final, 7 mins more the story could have been very different. surely messi will no longer be regarded as a national team flop.

ddippset:
like i said b4 only thomas muller deserved the golden ball ahead of messi.

ddippset:
nobody else. however you do it, sweet or ugly, to make it to a world cup final you must be celebrated and honoured. ive never seen a team play in a world cup final and still be maligned. i have never seen a player captain a team to a world cup final as their captain and best player and still be criticised. messi has set the bar too high, that's the albatross around his neck.

Dhelake: Messi blaming others for the loss, They all had one chance each, he should have converted his nah, he had more of the ball compared to them so no excuse

dayokanu:

Won't it be easier to just tell how many goals or assist he had at the business end of the tournament.

Messi without doubt is the best player in the world and in his generation but in this world cup he did not deserve the golden ball award.

Why is that difficult for you to understand.

Maradona was the best player of his generation but that doesn't mean he should be given golden ball in 1990 or 1994

A40:
Without Kolasinac's own goal Argentina's game would have also ended in a draw. If the defence didn't do their job Messi's goal would also not have given Argentina 3 pts. Try dey give other people credit as well! Everything isn't always about Messi
Wow even Di Maria's effort was deflected by Verthongen without that Higuain would not have even gotten the ball to begin with.
Robben also had a chance that Mascherano's last ditch block prevented from being a sure goal
No one remembers what was done against Bosnia, Iran or Nigeria if we did then guys like Benzema, Neymar should also be in the Golden Ball discussion since they also shone in the Group stage. How can you deny the defensive line credit for keeping a clean sheet in 3 out of 4 knockout games while the attack could only provide 2 goals
No Argentina's defense dragged them to the World Cup Final! 1 goal conceded in 450 mins of knockout football is no mean feat
Now you are talking
You people need to embrace the bitter truth! Your boy failed to deliver when it mattered the most. Maradona said it all and I don't think you love Argentina more than Maradona

dayokanu: Someone is comparing this sham to Zidane in 2006 and Forlan in 2010

Forlan 2010 = 1 goal in quarter final, 1 goal in semi final, 1 goal in 3rd place match

Zidane 2006 = 1 goal in second round, 1 assist for the winning goal in quarter final, 1 winning goal in the semi finals, 1 goal in the finals

This is what you are comparing to Messi 2014?

ddippset: in order to play well messi must score a hattrick and dribble 5 defenders. anything less, he is a flop.

yourangel: Mourinho: "All my respect to Messi because he played for his team and this can't be said of all players at this World Cup." #arg [yahoo]

Mourinho: "If Messi wanted to be the phenomenon we all know he is, he'd just have played up front, close to Higuain, waiting for a chance."

Mourinho: "Messi was trying to create something out of nothing for his team. His assist to Di Maria was for example brilliant." [yahoo]

Mourinho: "Messi played in zones that are not his. He had to play so low that he had to cross 2-3 lines. Always had 2-3 players on him."

Mourinho: "Messi sacrified himself for the team. He wanted to win, he didn't wanted to be topscorer or mvp, he wanted to make history."

nitlad: LOL @ Cule wänkers quoting Mourinho. . .

nitlad: LOL @ Cule wänkers quoting Mourinho. . .

yourangel:

Lol. You're funny! Mou's back-to-back 'trohylessness' has humbled him. Now, he seems to see and speak more rationally.

pkasso: Germany's triumph in Brazil is a good omen for German football,and Bayern Munich in particular.In the new milennium, a team from an European world cup winning country has gone on to win the UCL the following season.Italy(2006),Milan(2007);Spain(2010), Barcelona(2011).The Spanish side had 7 Guardiola-coached players in that squad, same number as Bayern.Coincidence? It's already written in the stars.Bayern Munich UCL Champions 2015.

Johnpaul88: Who the hell cares about a goddamn golden ball? All Messi ever wanted is the trophy!

But that doesn't stop Dayokanu & his right hand man from coming here to break their head in utter agony!

Austeenx: Enough of the world cup already. 2018 is just by the corner[sort of]

I really think we should be more concerned about how Messi, Suarez and Neymar can play in one team.
Can this coach make them play well together without one or two of the three being sub par?

dmcdad:
Exactly what I look up to. In as much as Messi remains the boss without questions, I wouldn't want a case where the rest of em (Ney&Suárez) would be more like bystanders. They should be given freedom also (at least to an extent & obviously not total freedom like Messi) so they can perform their own moments of brilliance when the occasion calls for it.

homesteady: from bayern thread


so we'll not win the next UCL?

When asked if he felt Messi was a scapegoat for Argentina's failings, Mourinho replied: "Not at all," before going on to question Albiceleste coach Alejandro Sabella's decisions in the final defeat to Germany.

"I think in the first half he had fantastic options," he added. "I would like to know why Lavezzi stayed in the dressing room at half-time.
"Argentina had been playing with two lines of four, with Enzo Perez closing Phillipp Lahm and Lavezzi doing the same on the other side. Because they were so compact Messi could walk while defending and then when he got the ball he had the energy to make the difference.

"When Sabella brought Aguero on for Lavezzi, Argentina changed from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 and they lost a lot of balance. Messi had to run much more after Lavezzi went off.

"The team lost balance and especially energy - energy that they needed in extra-time."

nitlad: LOL @ Cule wänkers quoting Mourinho. . .

ddippset: HOW COULD YOU SAY THIS? LOL. NA SO YOU DE COUNT YA OWN. WAS THE OG NOT THE FIRST GOAL SCORED? WHO SCORED NEXT? WAS IT NOT MESSI? THE OG DID NOT MAKE IT 2-1, IT MADE IT 2-0. SO YOU'RE SO WRONG THERE!
AS FOR HIGUAIN'S DEFLECTED GOAL, THE EMPHASIS HERE IS ON MESSI'S CONTRIBUTION. U GUYS SAID HE DIDNT DO ANYTHING IN THE KNOCK OUT, GO AND WATCH THE MATCH AGAIN AND SEE HIS SKILL LEADING TO THAT LONE GOAL VERSUS BELGIUM-THAT IS WHAT THEY CALL AN INDIRECT ASSIST!
SO GOLDEN BALL IS FOR ONLY KNOCK OUT STAGES AND YOU'RE HAPPY WITH JAMES FOR HIS GOLDEN BOOT AFTER 4 FIRST ROUND GOALS OR YOU WANT ROBBEN AS MVP WITH ALL HIS GOALS IN THE FRIST ROUND OR YOU WANT MULLER AS MVP WITH 3 GOALS AGAINST 10 MAN SPAIN IN THE SAME FIRST ROUND WHICH YOU SO DESPISE? LOL.
IN MOST PART OF THE WORLD CUP ARGENTINA'S DEFENCE HAD LITTLE OR NO WORK TO DO. IRAN, BOSNIA, SWISS ALL PARKED BUSES AND REFUSED TO ATTACK! SO MESSI IT WAS WHO SAVED THE DAY.
WHETHER MESSI FAILED OR NOT IS NOT REALLY IMPORTANT ANYMORE! HE MUST NOT WIN THE WORLD CUP, HE MUST NOT BE THOUGHT TO BE BETTER THAN MARADONA OR PELE. HE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST IN HISTORY ALREADY. FOOTBALL AWARDS CONTROVERSIES WONT START AND END WITH MESSI, WORLD CUP GOLDEN BALL 2006 AND 2010, AND FIFA BALLON DOR'S THERE WERE CONTROVERSIES. EVEN IN THE TIMES OF ZIDANE VERSUS FIGO, HENRY VERSUS RONALDINHO. 1 MONTH AGO HE HAD NO SENIOR TEAM MEDAL OR TROPHY. TODAY HE IS A WORLD CUP SILVER MEDALIST AND A WORLD CUP GOLDEN BALL WINNER.

Johnpaul88: Who the hell cares about a goddamn golden ball? All Messi ever wanted is the trophy!
But that doesn't stop Dayokanu & his right hand man from coming here to break their head in utter agony!

Austeenx:

well, let's keep our fingers crossed.