With the latest reports saying there’s no hope that Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson will be found alive after their Piper Malibu light aircraft went missing Monday night over the Channel Islands, the footballing world is beginning to pay its respects to the 28-year-old Argentine.
Donald Trump becoming president of the U.S. was unexpected. Leicester City winning the EPL was unexpected. Croatia making it to the World Cup final was unexpected.
But Lionel Messi ranked in fifth place for FIFA The Best Awards is just crazy. Fifth place? Are we serious right now? WTF?! Let’s pack our bags people; the apocalypse is coming: the white walkers or an "Independence Day" type of alien invasion. Or worse, we humans will manage to blow up the planet.
“Brazilian, Brazilian, you look bitter today/ Is it that Maradona is better, better than Pele” you hear thousands of Argentinians chanting, jumping and waving their arms, mocking their neighbors over the Maradona vs Pele debate. For they think Diego was better than O’rei (The King) Pelé, but truth is that in the albicelestes' hearts, Diego was the greatest of all, not only on top of Pelé, but also of the other Argentinian legends like Leo Messi or Alfredo Di Stefano. All four of these players could be argued to be the GOAT, so why Diego Maradona in particular?
Although Barcelona has already celebrated its La Liga title, the stakes are as high as ever ahead of this spring's edition of El Clasico. Real Madrid will almost certainly finish the season in second or third, but they'll be plenty motivated to keep Barcelona from joining the ranks of invincible soccer teams.
While there’s still work to be done to secure its historic “Invincibles” status (most notably Sunday’s El Clasico at the Camp Nou), Barcelona took time off to celebrate its league and cup double on Monday with an open-top bus victory parade through the heart of the city.
Barcelona thrashed Sevilla 5-0 in the Copa del Rey final to secure their fourth straight title in the competition, and it was the outgoing Andres Iniesta who was at the heart of everything good for the Catalan side.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the 33-year-old was on the brink of a move to Chinese Super League club Chongqing Dangdai, and the midfield maestro didn’t disappoint in securing his 31st piece of silverware with the club.
Up 3-0 at halftime of the 2018 Copa del Rey Final, Barcelona have almost certainly captured their fourth straight title in the competition. Luis Suarez opened the scoring in the 14th minute off a Philippe Coutinho assist, and Lionel Messi doubled the advantage in the 31st after a nasty back heel assist from Jordi Alba.
In the 40th minute, it was essentially game over after Suarez and Messi exchanged passes in the attacking third, leading to the Uruguayan’s second of the day (or one more than his entire Champions League campaign, if you prefer).
Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona are national treasures for Argentina. These two remarkable players have made history, not only for their country, but also for football in general.
Their legacies will always be remembered.
Lionel Messi's best goals are a feast for the eyes. He is not a force of nature; he is supernatural, mercurial...pure magic.
Fans of great soccer — even if they root for Real Madrid — are amazed and cannot get enough of Messi. Be it his goals, dribbles or out-of-this-world training routines, "La Pulga" is simply too good to miss.