lionel messi

zlatan ibrahimovic, on lionel messi's impact following argentina's win over austria:

"i'm obsessed with watching messi. and it's not because he's my friend. it's not nostalgia either. it's because after all these years i'm still trying to understand how a footballer can control a match without touching the ball every single minute.

i watched argentina today, and the first thing that caught my attention wasn't the score. it was austria's reaction whenever messi moved. on a single step he took to the left, the defenders follow him. when he drops back a little toward midfield, the team's entire formation changes. a single glance he throws over his shoulder... and the panic begins.

this isn't football. this is psychological warfare. and this is exactly why i laugh when people evaluate him with just goals and assists. because they don't truly understand what they're watching.

messi isn't just argentina's best player. he is argentina's system. he is their confidence. he is their belief. he's the reason his teammates believe the impossible is possible when they walk onto the pitch.

people keep asking me about the 'goat' debate. what debate? seriously. what debate? for me there's no debate to be had. this debate exists because television needs content and social media needs fights. when i watch football i don't see a debate. i see messi. and then everyone else.

this doesn't mean the other legends aren't extraordinary. it's just that i've never seen any player affect a match, a team, and an entire generation of football the way messi has. and today he reminded everyone of it once again.

he didn't need to score a hat-trick. he didn't need to score from 40 meters either. just being lionel messi was enough. and all of a sudden argentina started to look like a completely different team.

this right here is greatness. it isn't everything depending on you. it's everyone becoming better when you're out there.

in my career i played against great players. i played on the same team as great players. but messi is the only player i've watched and truly thought to myself: 'this isn't normal.'

and the most frightening part is this: opponents know very well what he's going to do. and yet they still can't stop him.

that's why i don't waste time with comparisons anymore. some players become legends. some become icons. messi, on the other hand, has turned into a category of his own.

and if, after today's performance, you're still asking me who the greatest footballer of all time is... you're asking the wrong question. the right question is this: will football ever be able to produce another player like him?"