lionel messi

this man is a living legend! he breaks his own record every day. his only rival is himself. maybe we never got to witness maradona, but we witnessed someone even better. thank goodness you exist, messi!

you know how we missed the chance to see names like freddie mercury and michael jackson live? watching messi is something on that same level. we are going to be telling our grandchildren about him and they are going to think he is artificial intelligence, so savor it.

what sharply sets this guy apart from cristiano is this: for this guy, his teammates are ready to give their lives, they'd die for him. cristiano ronaldo? he's got quite a few people who hate him, bruno fernandes chief among them, if you ask me.

the goat who takes a free kick from 35 meters like it's a penalty. if only he'd take his penalties like penalties too.

after the second goal they conceded, he looked up at the sky with a pained expression on his face. i thought to myself, i guess it's not going to happen this time. turns out the guy was feeling sorry for what was about to happen to egypt.

right now if he wanted to, he could remove the president of argentina from office.

2014, 2015, 2016. one world cup, two copa americas, losing in a total of 3 finals, then quitting the national team. the comeback, getting eliminated again in 2018, and just when the english commentator was saying he'll be 35 at the next tournament, this was maybe his last one, at 35 he steps up in every critical moment, scores in every match after the group stage, and of course wins the world cup as the best player of the tournament. squeezing in 2 more copa americas along the way.

he left europe and went to the mls, which is about the level of a pickup rec league, and just when you're thinking that in practice he was still playing but in theory he'd retired, at 39 he comes back to the world cup again and scores in every match he plays, becoming the tournament's all-time top scorer. in the round of 16 against egypt, in the match where he missed a penalty, down 2-0 heading into the 80th minute, just as you're thinking these are probably his final moments at a world cup, he turns the match around with a goal and an assist.

his career plays out like a movie. an unbelievable footballer. the greatest of all time.

there's something i haven't been able to figure out for years now: this guy takes the field, plays his game, and that's it, no statements praising himself, no statements taking shots at others. the player with the most goal contributions in the world, 8 ballon d'ors, 48 trophies won, not a record left unbroken. you look at the comments and it's "midget" this, "jew" that, "fifa protects him." folks, this guy has been playing at the top level for 21 years, do you realize that? come on, comment with a little bit of sense and reason. what is even the reason you hate this guy?