Tribute Thread to Messi: the GOAT (and tax cheat)

It's time we had a dedicated Messi thread. Aged 24 Messi just won his 3rd Ballon D'Or award. The only people to equal that are Cruyff, Platini and Van Basten. It's hard to imagine Messi winning less than 5.

I think Messi is well on the way to becoming, at worst, the 2nd greatest player of all time. He's easily to compare to Maradona, and his career is clearly more impressive at this point in time. He's too young for the media to widely speak of him as the GOAT, but as the years progress I think there's going to be little doubt.

His story is very cool. He had a growth defect, and was 4"10 aged 13. River Plate in Argentina refused to pay his $900/mo treatment, but, via relatives, Messi was able to arrange a trial at Barcelona. Barcelona sporting director Carles Rexach offered him a contract, written on a napkin, on the spot, later saying "In two minutes, I saw his speed, his skill and decided we would sign him."

Videos

Quotes

"He is the best player in the world by a long distance. He is like a playstation." - Arsene Wenger

"Messi is on another planet." - Arjen Robben

"You have to see it – it is not something you can describe because you have to see it to believe it." - Pep Guardiola

"If he continues to do what he have been doing and he will probably be the greatest player there ever been” - Sir Bobby Charlton

"Messi is an incomplete player because he can't use his head. Maybe one day there will be some player who will play more games than Pele did, or score more goals than Pele did. But I think that is a little difficult." - Pele