Nesta: It’s too soon to judge the Messi-
Maradonna debate
July 18, 2014 Alessandro Nesta, ITALY
Tags: Argentina , Sony Handycam ®
Comparisons between Diego Maradonna and
Lionel Messi are unfair until the current
Argentinian maestro retires, says our Sony Team
Ambassador Alessandro Nesta.
Asked to judge the pair in a live web chat with
fans, Nesta replied: “It’s too early to say. Once
Messi has retired then we can answer that
question. Messi still has one more chance to win
the World Cup.”
Of course, Maradonna lifted the coveted trophy
in the victory over West Germany in 1986 – a
tournament where he also won the Golden Ball.
That’s going one better than Messi, who
controversially won the Golden Ball for player of
the tournament this time round despite critics
saying he flopped in the final, which Nesta
agrees with.
When asked if Messi should still be considered
one of the best players of all time despite his
World Cup final performance, Nesta replied: “Of
course he should. Messi didn’t play well in the
final but this shouldn’t erase all the amazing
things he has done so far in his career.”
So what do the stats say? At the age of 27, Messi
has already played more games and scored more
goals for Argentina than Maradonna. Messi has
93 caps and has scored 42 goals while
Maradonna collected 91 caps with 34 goals.
Maradonna’s career was interrupted when he
was suspended from football for 15 months in
1991 after failing a drug test, for cocaine, in
Italy, and he was sent home from the 1994 World
Cup in America after testing positive for
ephedrine.
In contrast to the controversy, he was chosen as
the joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century along
with Pelé and his second goal against England at
the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico was voted
the Goal of the Century by FIFA.com voters in
2002.
Maradonna made 491 appearances in his club
career, scoring 259 goals. Messi is likely to
eclipse his fellow number 10’s goal-scoring
exploits this season having already scored 243
times in 277 appearances for Barcelona.
With the next World Cup in Russia four years
away, Messi has plenty of time to further his
club and international careers but what happens
in 2018 could be the defining factor in how the
pair go down in history. As Nesta says, only time
will tell.
http://fan.football.sony.net/blog/2014/07/18/nesta-soon-judge-messi-maradonna-debate/

in my own opinion, i think it is too late. If messi was born in the era of maradona, he would have been considered a legend of the game.