Sports

Is Messi World’s Greatest Footballer Ever?

Published

14 years ago

March 12, 2012

Last Wednesday’s game against Bayer Leverkusen was the first time Messi scored five goals in a game in his career. It is also the first time a player scored five goals in a Champions League game. He also has one quadruple (v Arsenal), one hat-trick (v Viktoria Plzen) and nine braces in the competition.

With 49 goals in 64 games, Messi is the fourth top scorer in the history of the Champions League (since 1992-93), behind Raul (71), Ruud van Nistelrooy (56) & Thierry Henry (50).

Messi has scored 12 goals this season in the Champions League, which equals the best total in a Champions League campaign (since 1992-93). The others to reach that tally were Van Nistelrooy (2002-03) & Messi himself (2010-11).

This season, Messi has scored twice as many goals as any other player in the Champions League, ahead of Bayern Munich’s Mario Gomez with six.

Since his goal in the 2009 final, Messi has scored 33 goals in 30 Champions League starts. It had been a year since he last scored at the Nou Camp in the competition (3-1 v Arsenal, 8 March 2011).

Messi had seven shots against Leverkusen, six of them on target.

Messi scored his 49th Champions League goal at the age of 24 years, eight months & 13 days old. When reaching the same target, Raul was aged 27 years, four months and 27 days – while Van Nistelrooy and Henry were aged 30 and 31 respectively.

He has attracted several accolades from different quarters and the following are how the little genues from Argentina is being viewed by different people at different times.

“He is the best player in football’s history and we’ve never seen anyone like him”, Cesc Fabregas Spain & Barcelona

“He’s the best ever, there is no other like him. We’ll never see a player like him again. The throne belongs to him and only he will decide when he wants to relinquish it.” – Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

“When Messi has scored 1,283 goals like me, when he’s won three World Cups, we’ll talk about it.” – Pele.

“When you play against such a player, then you always want his shirt.” – Bayer Leverkusen player Michal Kadlec, who was criticised by his coach for squabbling with a team-mate over who got to exchange shirts with the Argentine.

“He’s going to be one of the best footballers in the history of the sport.” Barcelona team-mate Xavi after Messi claimed his third Ballon d’Or.

“Do you remember the goal Maradona scored in the World Cup against England when he took on and beat half their team? Well, Leo used to score goals like that almost every game, even when he was only five years old.” – David Trevez, president of Grandoli FC, the first club where Messi played competitively.

“He was very small at the time of his discovery, but he was an excellent player already. Many players are in La Masia [Barcelona’s training facilities] every year, but I remember Leo as the one who loved football the most.” Barca’s former youth director and the man credited with discovering Messi, Josep Colomer.

“The best player in the world. Once he’s on the run, Messi is unstoppable.” – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, following Barca’s 4-1 demolition of Arsenal at the Nou Camp in 2010.

“He has everything to be the number one.” Brazil legend Carlos Alberto Torres.

“I believe if he carries on playing like he is he will become the number one in history.” – Argentine World Cup winner and former team-mate of Diego Maradona, Ossie Ardiles.

“Since he arrived at Barcelona at such a young age, we saw quickly that he had some very special qualities.” Barcelona academy coach Jose Ramon Alexanco.

“I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentinian football and his name is Messi.” Diego Maradona, speaking in 2006

WHO ARE HIS RIVALS FOR THE “GREATEST EVER” TAG?

Pele:

Brazilian Pele won three World Cups – 1958, 1962 and 1970 – and scored 77 goals in 91 appearances for his country. He was jointly awarded the Fifa’s Player of the Century in 1999 with Diego Maradona. He bagged 1,281 goals in 1,363 games for club and country before retiring in 1977.

Diego Maradona:

Diego Maradona was jointly awarded the honour of Fifa’s Player of the Century with Pele and earned 91 caps for his country, scoring 34 goals. Predominantly left-footed, the forward was a World Cup-winning captain in 1986. He retired in 1997, with 292 goals in 583 club and country appearances.

Johan Cruyff:

Dutch winger Johan Cruyff won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974 – a record jointly held with Michel Platini, Marco van Basten and Lionel Messi. The Netherlands never lost a match in the 33 games in which he scored. In total for clubs and country he slotted home 324 goals in 568 games before retiring in 1984, but never lifted the World Cup.

Cristiano Ronaldo:

Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo is the most expensive player in football history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid for £80m in 2009. Ronaldo, 27, won the Champions League in 2008 and already has 88 caps and 32 goals for his country, as well as 183 goals in 309 club appearances. The European Golden Shoe and Premier League Golden Boot winner is also the highest goalscorer in a season in Real Madrid’s history with 53 strikes.

George Best:

Northern Irishman George Best won the European Cup in 1968 with Manchester United, winning the European Footballer of the Year the same year. Best also grabbed two English league titles (1965, 1967). He won 37 caps for Northern Ireland, and scored 214 goals in 616 appearances before retiring in 1983.

Other candidates: Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina, Colombia & Spain), Eusebio (Portugal), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Michel Platini (France), Ronaldo (Brazil), Zinedine Zidane (France) .

Sports

IAUE VC Football Cup Final Holds In PH, Wed

Published

3 days ago

September 13, 2025

The Tide

Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, in Rivers State, will be at the centre stage on Wednesday as the VC Cup final, both male and female categories will be played at the prestigious Stadium in the school.

The both final matches promises to be exciting, as arrangements have been concluded to watch one of the best VC football Cup finals in the history.

VC Cup tournament is an annual sporting event that involves all students in various facilities.

According to the Chief coach of the University football team, David Egbiri, the female will final will kick off 2pm between faculty of Human Kinetics and Management Sciences, while the male will kick off by 4pm between Social Science and Natural Applied Science

Egbiri, who was former coach of Abiola Babe FC and Concord FC, lauded the Vice Chancellor. Prof. Okechukwu Onuchukwu for releasing funds on sports development, saying that he has never also failed the School in terms of infrastructural development.

“The VC who is also a sports personality has not failed to release funds for this tournament, apart from that he has not also disappointed in terms of developing the school in all ramifications.

“I want to say that my major reason for accepting to coach the school football team is to develop the youth through sports”, Coach Egbiri said.

The former Eagle Cement Coach, explained that he was not encouraged the way and manner the young ones are going about sports because there is no discipline and so much quest for quick money.

” Honestly, the way young players are looking money was just too much. Looking for short cuts always to make money that is more reason some of them don’t go far and end up badly

” In our days we first of all think about how to make name and we are passionate about it. I went to school and saw myself in sports, while my initial intention was to read electrical engineering” he stated.

Tonye Orabere

Sports

Gov. Decries Delta’s Poor Performance At 2025 NYG

Published

4 days ago

September 12, 2025

The Tide

Pix: Team Delta State

The Delta State Sports Commission has come under scrutiny following the state’s disappointing performance at the just-concluded National Youth Games (NYG) in Asaba, where Lagos dethroned Delta to clinch top spot.

Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, visibly displeased with both the poor outing of Team Delta and the organizational lapses witnessed during the Games, summoned an emergency meeting with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) immediately after the closing ceremony.

Delta, which had dominated the NYG by finishing first in the last eight editions, only managed second place this time — a result the governor described as “totally unacceptable,” especially given the state’s significant investment in the event.

According to a reliable source privy to the meeting, Governor Oborevwori expressed deep disappointment, stressing that his administration had provided all necessary support to the Sports Commission and the LOC to ensure Delta retained its traditional top position.

In a decisive move, the governor demoted his Executive Assistant on Sports and former Director-General of the Sports Commission, Festus Owhojero, under whose leadership the Games were organized. Owhojero was reassigned from Executive Assistant (EA) to Senior Special Assistant (SSA) with immediate effect.

The governor’s action, our source revealed, reflects his zero-tolerance stance on incompetence and underperformance within his administration. Mr. Owhojero thus becomes the first high-profile casualty of the governor’s resolve to reposition sports in Delta State.

Furthermore, Oborevwori directed the Sports Commission and LOC officials to submit a detailed report on the Games, outlining what went wrong and providing recommendations for improvement. The governor emphasized the need for urgent reforms to restore Delta’s dominance, especially as the state is set to host the next edition of the Games under an existing memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Sports

WCQ: NFF Denies Post Match Statement

Published

4 days ago

September 12, 2025

The Tide

Pix: Super Eagles players in celebration mood.

The Nigeria Football Federation has distanced itself from a post-match statement that criticised some Super Eagles players following the team’s 1-1 draw with South Africa in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

The statement, issued by the NFF’s Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, singled out forward Cyriel Dessers and captain William Troost-Ekong for criticism.

It accused Dessers of being sluggish and faulted Ekong for the own goal that gave Bafana Bafana the lead.

However, NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, said on Wednesday that the statement did not represent the official position of the Federation.

“I saw the release just like everyone else did. Nobody in the Federation is happy with it,” Sanusi said.

“The NFF did not authorise that statement. We have great respect for all the players. Blaming an individual for a team result is unfair.”

He added that the Federation regards the South Africa match as a collective effort and will not support attempts to scapegoat any player.

“When we win, it’s a team victory. When we lose, it’s also collective. No player should be singled out,” Sanusi said.

He described the targeted criticism of Troost-Ekong as unjustified, noting that the defender had previously been celebrated as the Most Valuable Player at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire.

“It was an unfortunate own goal. His intention was to clear the ball. Anyone who knows football understands that such things happen,” he said..

Sanusi also expressed confidence in the team’s unity, revealing that efforts were ongoing to regroup and refocus ahead of the remaining qualifiers and AFCON.

“Our house is in order. We’re preparing for the rest of the qualifiers and the AFCON in Morocco,” he said.

“There’s no problem with our players or coaching crew. Our relationship remains cordial. The government and the NFF are proud of the players’ efforts.”

The Federation had initially praised Calvin Bassey for his equalising goal and lamented the team’s failure to convert second-half chances.

But Sanusi made it clear that internal disciplinary action would be taken over the unauthorised release.

“I can assure you the NFF will take action on the matter,” he said.

Nigeria currently sit third in Group C of the CAF World Cup qualifiers with 11 points from eight matches. South Africa lead the group with 17 points.

The Super Eagles must now win their remaining games against Lesotho and Benin Republic and hope other results go their way to secure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.