Lionel Messi happy with Sergio Batista

It is good news for the interim coach of Argentina soccer team Sergio Batista that he got good support from the star player Lionel Messi. Argentina played against Ireland and won the match 1-0. This was the first match for Batista as the coach of national team.

Batista played for Argentina national team from 1985-90 as a midfielder. He took charge after Diego Maradona resigned a few weeks ago. The friendly match took place in Ireland and it was a good away win Batista.

Lionel Messi has played under Batista in 2008 Summer Olympics and Argentina won the gold medal in that event. So, Messi has good memory of the coach.

Messi said, "We've got to let him get on with the job. I had him at the Olympic Games (in 2008) and I get on very well with him. Today he's the one and we regard him as the national team coach, not a stand-in.

I liked how we played, it's the same system we use in my club, the same game. I felt comfortable because that's how I play with Barcelona."

Messi was very close to Diego Maradona and that is why, Batista should feel even double happy.

As for Lionel Messi, the new La Liga season is going to start in a few days. So, he will be busy with his club rather than the national team.

Lionel Messi: Time to Shine again in the New Season

Lionel Messi is more or less enjoying the holidays after World Cup Football. He just took part in a charity match arranged by Deco in São Paulo, Brazil. This charity was organized to support the charity organization that Deco has been running to help people.

Messi has been in Brazil for the last few days with his girl friend on a holiday and within a few days; he will go to Barcelona and join the practice before the start of the new season.

He did not perform badly in World Cup but Argentina suffered a humiliating exit from the quarter-final with a 0-4 defeat at the hand of Germany. After that, there has been some criticism in the media against Messi that he felt to deliver what was expected of him.

To the fans of Lionel Messi, the World Cup was not a bad performance because he was really playing very well and he assisted in many goals that Argentina scored. Anyway, in the next season, Messi should try to play even better and perform better and make sure that Barcelona can win some trophy.

Messi personally should try to score as many goals as possible because whenever his performance will be some bad then some people in the media will strongly come out and criticize him.

Of course, Messi is still the best player in the world and he should not worry too much about anything and just focus on his game. There is Copa America 2011 next year and he will have the opportunity to prove his best for his national team. 

Lionel Messi is not a Poster Boy or Flop Star

The world cup has ended but the attack on Lionel Messi has not ended yet. Many experts are putting him in the same category of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo as posters boys and flop stars of South Africa 2010. This is simply ridiculous because Messi was undoubtedly the best player of Argentina team this time and he tried his best.

It is wrong and unfair to put him in the same category with Rooney and Ronaldo because Rooney was surely a flop. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has come forward to support him and stated that Rooney failed because he was under too much pressure from the huge expectations of the people and the media.

Ronaldo on the other looked totally out of touch in the entire tournament. The same simply cannot be said about Messi. He tried his best in every match. Yes, he was unlucky to some extent not to get any goal. However, he assisted in most of the goals of his team.

Although Argentina suffered early exit in the quarterfinals, Messi still could make in to the short list of top ten players for the Golden Ball nomination. It shows that the FIFA experts did not fail to recognize his superb performance. Rooney and Ronaldo were not in that short list.

Lionel Messi should not take some rest and prepare for the upcoming La Liga football season. He will have his opportunity to show in Copa America 2011 that he is neither a poster boy nor a flop star but a real superstar of our time.

Lionel Messi and Golden Ball: Does he Deserve it in FIFA 2010?

The short list of 10 players for the Golden Ball nominations has been announced and Lionel Messi’s name is there despite the fact that Argentina could not move beyond quarterfinal of the World Cup Football 2010. Was his performance really so incredible? Does he deserve to win the Golden Ball?

It is not shocking to find that Spain has 3 players in the list: Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Xavi whie Holland has two- Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben. Germany has 2, Uruguay has 1 and Ghana has 1. From Argentina, it was only Messi in this short list.

Lionel Messi did not score even a single goal in the 5 matches he took part but he was always there with his best. He missed some opportunities and he was unlucky on some occasions as the opponent goalkeepers came out with some of the best saves in the tournament against Messi.

Argentina fans were happy with his performance and he showed that he will be a big factor after 4 years.

Still, Messi does not deserve to get the Golden Ball because it will be an injustice to players like Sneijder, Robben, Xavi or Villa who really tried the best and successfully brought their teams to the final.

After four years, in 2014, Lionel Messi will be 27 years old and that time, World Cup will take place in South America (Brazil). He should be at finest form at that time and he should be indeed the next Diego Maradona for Argentina.

The same thing happened for Diego Maradona. In 1982 World Cup, Maradona (aged 22) played well but Argentina did not move beyond the second round. In 1986 World, Maradona was almost 27 years old and became the best player in the tournament and Argentina became champion.

As for the fans of Messi, La Liga new season is starting next month and it gives the fans to see this great player again in action. 

Lionel Messi is still the Best Football Player of the World

After disappointing result for Argentina at Quarterfinal of World Cup 2010, Lionel Messi has remained mostly silent. He is perhaps taking some time off and preparing for the next season of La Liga that is supposed to start from 28 August. Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque and Spain defender Carles Puyol have come forward in support of Messi.

Vicente del Bosque has stated that he would rate Messi as one of the best players in this world cup.

Bosque said, "Messi showed what a fine player he is, but for an individual to shine more then that has to go hand in hand with collective success. He was one of the players of the tournament though he remained a little hidden by the situation of his team."

Anders Iniesta also praises the performance of Messi in World Cup. On the other hand, Carles Puyol has said that he felt that Messi would again become World’s best player.  

Most of the fans of Lionel Messi in Argentina and in other countries are also satisfied with his performance. He is still very young and in next World Cup, he will become 27 years old and hopefully, Messi will be at his best at that time. 

Lionel Messi should target Copa America 2011 from Now

After the defeat in the quarterfinal at the hand of Germany, Lionel Messi and the other team members have not said anything to the media. It is still not clear what will happen to Diego Maradona either. However, Messi should now think of Copa America 2011 only.

With his club Barcelona, Messi has won many trophies. However, with his national team Argentina, he is yet to win any notable trophy. Of course, his fans may point out that he helped Argentina to win 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship but it was a junior thing. Messi played well in 2007 Copa América and Argentina went in the final but then lost to Brazil 0-3 in the final.

2011 Copa América will take place in Argentina on July 3-July 24. Thus, the local fans will expect that Argentina would win the trophy. Of course, you cannot take anything for granted because in this tournament, there are teams like Brazil and Uruguay who will try their best to become champion.

Brazil is a strong team and even in this world, they played well. They have some of the top players in the world. That is why, Lionel Messi must take mental preparation to bring the trophy for Argentina in 2011 Copa America. He should sometimes go and stay in Argentina in the next 12 months and get familiar with condition there.

For almost a decade, he has been living mostly in Spain. However, most of his fans are in Argentina and they consider him as the next Maradona. 

Lionel Messi has not disappointed Fans and He Deserves a lot of Praise

Yesterday, after Argentina lost to Germany, millions of people saw Lionel Messi becoming sad and tearful as his team suffered an early exit in the world cup. Since then, many newspapers and websites have been writing that he like other three top stars Rooney, Ronaldo and Kaka have disappointed the fans. It is not right because Messi tried for his best and he played his best too.

Yes, as for Rooney or Kaka, they could not play according to their celebrity status. Rooney’s bad performance made everyone at England unhappy. Kaka could not shine either for Brazil. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal was also not at his best. Most probably, these players were very tired after Premier League and La Liga. When it comes to Messi, he was undoubtedly the best player for Argentina in this world despite not scoring a single goal.

Lionel Messi was the main source of inspiration for the team. Maradona was so much impressed by his performance that he rested 7 key players in the match against Greece and made Messi captain for that match. Even as a leader, he showed his skill.

It was a bad luck for Maradona, Messi and Argentina that they faced Germany in quarterfinal. Germany is in the best form in this world cup. Earlier they demolished Australia by 4-0 and England by 4-2. If Argentina had played against Ghana, Uruguay, Paraguay or even against Spain yesterday, then things could have been different.

There is no doubt that Messi tried his best and his performance reminded everyone again that he is indeed the best player in the world at the moment. It is also his bad luck that Argentina does not have good players in the midfield.

So, the Argentina fans should come out in large number and support Messi at this moment. He deserves all the praise from the fans for his efforts. 

Lionel Messi: What went Wrong in World Cup 2010?

Lionel Messi is still perhaps the best footballer in the world. He did not get any goal in World Cup 2010 but his performance was impressive. So, what went wrong for him in this tournament as Argentina suffered a humiliating defeat at the hand Germany by 4-0?

Although, Messi could not score any goal in the tournament, he helped others to score. Before the start of the tournament, there was a lot of criticism against Lionel Messi that he gives his best efforts for the Spanish club Barcelona but not for the national team.

Surely, Messi has been successful in silencing his critics but still his team could not go beyond quarterfinal stage. Well, it seems that the only thing that went wrong for Messi is that except him and Tevez, the other players were not in good form. So, the team got too much dependent on these two players.

In today’s match, the German defenders were successful in keeping under tight mark to Messi. Whenever he got the ball, 2-3 defenders were there to stop his advance. Also, he was not physically fit. Thus, he could not give his 100%.

The weak part of this Argentine team was that it had lackluster midfield and weak defense. A striker always needs strong support from the midfield. It was the biggest problem for Messi. Until the quarterfinal, this weakness was not exposed in Argentine squad because the opponent teams were much weaker than Germany.

Most probably, coach Diego Maradona will resign soon and a new coach might be appointed. The new coach should from now think of Copa America 2011 and World Cup 2014. He should focus on building a good midfield.

Lionel Messi is not Worried for No Goal Yet

In the group stage of World Cup 2010, Argentina has scored 7 goals in 3 matches but not a single one came from the legs of their top player and striker Lionel Messi. It is a sad news for millions of fans of this player around the word. However, Messi himself is not worried or unhappy. Instead, he just wants his team to win the world cup.

In this World Cup so far, Messi got a lot of opportunities but he was just unlucky not to score a goal yet. He created many opportunities for his teammates and he had direct or indirect assistance in at least 5 of the 7 goals. Until the start of the world cup, there was a lot of criticism against him that he gave his best for Barcelona but he never worked hard for the national team. However, in FIFA 2010 South Africa, he has been able to silence his critics at home and abroad even without scoring a goal in 3 matches.

In the last match of the group stage, Argentina played against Greece without 7 of their regular players. Messi was the captain for the match and under his captaincy, Argentina won by 2-0.

Thus, Lionel Messi is doing the thing he is supposed to do- to help his team win. He is not worried for getting goals and it shows that he has the right mentality.

Messi said to the media, "I am not worried about it. Obviously I'd prefer them to go in, but it's not a big deal," he said.

What's important is that we keep playing well and that the team wins. With a bit of luck, I'll score against Mexico."

Yes, a bit of luck is the thing Messi needs at this moment. He is trying hard and hopefully, he will score a goal in Argentina vs Mexico match. 

Lionel Messi Shines in his First Match as Captain

There was some criticism against Diego Maradona for not playing some of the experienced players including the regular captain Javier Mascherano against the world cup match against Greece. Lionel Messi was put in charge of captaincy and he could lead the successfully with a 2-0 win.

Messi is just 23 years old but he has been playing at Barcelona from the age of 16. In fact, he has been playing for the national team for more than 4 years. Messi has already played 46 matches for the national team and he has scored 13 goals.

If you are wondering why he has scored not many goals for the national team the answer is perhaps simple. He is always marked strongly by the opponent players and he creates a lot of opportunities for the team mates. The same thing happened in all the 3 matches of World Cup 2010.  

Diego Maradona has never hided the fact that he is extremely fond of Messi. It was like a birthday gift to the boy wonder as his birthday is on 24 June. Messi showed that he was capable of leading his team even at a very early age.

In the round of 16, Argentina will play against Mexico at Johannesburg's Soccer City on coming Sunday. It is notable that Argentina played against Mexico in the round of 16 in 2006 World Cup too. Argentina won that match by 2-1 in extra time and Messi came in the 84^th minute as a substitute player. He did not get any goal in that match.

In this World Cup, Lionel Messi is in superb form but the only thing that perhaps has made him some sad is the fact that he has not been able to score any goal yet. Of course, he assisted in almost all the 7 goals that Argentina has scored so far in this competition.