Pique Confused?

Extremely reliable source Goal.com has reported that Barcelona center back, Gerard Pique, has claimed that current Real Madrid trainer, Jose "The Special One" Mourinho, got away with "murder" last year. Pique pointed out that  Mourinho poked Tito Villanova in the eye. However, ongoing investigations suggest that the infamous eye poke had nothing to do with Tito's battle against cancer. The leading culprit for Tito's cancer is in fact New York Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriguez. Pique is not to blame for this misunderstanding, though. Clearly he was confused by the story recently breaking from the National Football League regarding Ray Lewis' retirement. The National Football League has been a major distraction to all other sports in Europe following the wild success of the National Football League's annual single game in London each season. Not only do foreign fans not understand what's going on during the game, but they have become increasingly interested in the drama, such as Ray Lewis' retirement, a story that has clearly had a lot of meaning to Gerard Pique, even if he thought they were reporting on Jose "The Special One Mourinho."

They accused me of what?

One of the stories that makes up Ray Lewis' illustrious career has to do with a double murder and a bloody suit, belonging to Mr. Lewis, that has gone missing probably never to be seen again. Neither Jose Mourinho or Ray Lewis got away with murder last year, Mr. Pique, but Ray Lewis probably got away with murder years ago. Pique, most likely distracted by his girlfriend Shakira's hips because they don't lie, must have caught only part of the story and, just like every other Barcelona player or fan, thought that the negative news was about Satan's imp over in Madrid, Jose Mourinho.

Have you seen my girlfriend's hips?

While Mourinho has not been interviewed about Pique's allegations yet and the mix up with the Ray Lewis story, it is beyond reasonable doubt that Jose would respond with "who is Ray Lewis?" and then ask Pique where his 2011/2012 La Liga trophy was. Real Madrid fans have rallied by claiming that Cristiano Ronaldo, CR7, is the best player in the world, and Barcelona fans have countered with "91."

So goes the never ending feud between Barcelona and Real Madrid...

Messi Wins 2012 Ballon d'Or

Earlier today Barcelona's Lionel Messi, the little genius, was awarded the 2012 Fifa Ballon d'Or. Messi has now won this award four times in a row, a streak beginning with the 2009 Ballon d'Or. Soon Fifa will change the name of this award to the "Lionel Messi" award, a fitting name since the Argentine is the only player allowed to win the award. Coming into today the field of eligible recipients had been narrowed down to Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta, and the paragon of excellence that is Lionel Messi.

The Fifa Ballon d'Or is a combination of the Fifa World Player of the year award and the Ballon d'Or award, commonly known as the European Footballer of the World award. The Ballon d'Or was presented to the European player who was deemed to have performed the best over the past calendar year. The Fifa World Player of the year was awarded to the best player in the world. With the merging of the two awards, the new criteria for winning the award changes each year to fit the accomplishments of Barcelona's Hobbit-like forward, Lionel Messi.

Can you believe I won again?

In 2010, Dutch, attacking midfielder, Wesley Sneijder was an integral part of Inter Milan's success as well as Holland's. Sneijder led Inter Milan to a treble winning season, winning the Copa Italia, the Italian Serie A, and the Champions League. Sneijder's Inter even eliminated the little genius' squad from the Champion's League in the semi-final stage. Not even the greatest team in the history of everything could keep Inter away from the treble. Later in 2010 Sneijder reached the World Cup final with Holland, again playing an integral role. Holland did lose to Spain in extra time in that final, but Messi's Argentina was bounced from the competition when Germany romped them 4-0 in the knockout stages. However, Messi still won the Ballon d'Or in 2010.

Then in the 2010-2011 season Messi's Barcelona finished first in La Liga and won the Champions League. Meanwhile Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid finished second in La Liga, but the hated Portuguese led the league in scoring. Naturally Messi won the award because of the success his team enjoyed and his large goal tally. However, in the 2011-2012 campaign Real Madrid dominated La Liga, earning over 100 points and scoring a large quantity of goals. The goal distribution at Real Madrid is not nearly as lopsided as Barcelona. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 46 league goals while getting good inputs from teammates such as Karim Benzema. Messi, scoring 50 league goals that year and 73 overall (13 more than Cristiano Ronaldo's 60 total goals) won the Ballon d'Or. When Messi scores a ton of goals and wins the Copa del Rey, that's the criteria for winning the Ballon d'Or. When Cristiano Ronaldo scores a ton of goals and wins the Copa del Rey in 2010-2011 campaign, it's not good enough.

This award belongs to me

There is no surprise that the little genius that is Lionel Messi won the 2012 Ballon d' Or. Messi scored a ton of goals and didn't win La Liga or the Champions League. The criteria for winning the 2012 Ballon d'Or was breaking Muller's goals in one calendar year record, a record that no one ever spoke about until the very later stages of 2012. Fifa has already declared that the criteria for next year's award is to "be Lionel Messi." If Cristiano Ronaldo scores 527 goals in 2013, he will not win the award because people do not like him. Fifa continuously puts Cristiano Ronaldo in the final three for consideration in hopes of making him cry after seeing Messi receive the award year after year. Robin van Persie, the man who carried Arsenal last season and led the English Premier League in scoring was not a final three contestant because he is not Lionel Messi and he does not play for Barcelona or Real Madrid.

The 2014 Ballon d'Or final three have already been decided upon: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and someone who has no chance in hell to win the award. Well, make that Lionel Messi and two people that have no chance in hell to win the award, one which will be Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi has won this new Ballon d'Or four out of the five years it has been in existence, but Fifa officials still cannot figure out how he did not win in 2008. What a travesty that was.

Let's all congratulate Lionel Messi for winning the 2012 Ballon d'Or, and while we're at it, congratulations on winning the 2013 Ballon d'Or, too. He really is a little genius.

intERrUPTION: Ending the Streak

This past weekend Inter Milan defeated Juventus 3-1 in the Serie A ending Juventus' 49 match unbeaten streak. The match began in typical fashion with the referee allowing Juventus to score a goal in the first minute that was sparked by a pass to a Juventus player in an offside position. The referee, at this early stage of the game, thought he was getting a Maserati from the Agnelli family, a belief he held throughout the duration of the first half. If asked about the call, the referee would wisely tell the media that he was not offered a Maserati and that Juventus were unfairly demoted to the Serie B a few years ago on false information. He would cite the penalty he awarded Inter at the beginning of the second half as proof that he was not favoring Juventus, despite missing a blatant offsides call that directly led to a goal.

Offsides much?

Despite some suspect refereeing and roughhousing from Juventus defender, Inter, headed by a resurgent Diego Milito were able to turn the halftime deficit into a two goal by the late stages of the game. Not even Andrea Pirlo's beard could save Juventus from suffering defeat on this fateful day in November.

The Italian Serie A has come a long way in the past ten years or so. Once one of the very top leagues in Europe in the late 90s and early 2000s, the Serie A is now rated lower than the German Bundesliga. As a result the Serie A has seen reduced automatic spots in the Champions League and is now ranked closer to the French League. Now the Serie A is best known for it's match fixing scandals that present themselves at least once each season, usually involving a handful of teams.

Despite the praise that Juventus has been given over the past season continuing into the current campaign, the only teams from Italy that have found any success in Europe recently are both from Milan, Inter Milan and AC Milan. AC Milan won the Champions League a few years ago and Inter most recently lifted the coveted trophy in 2010, a campaign that included the Italian Cup and the Serie A title, too. Either referees throughout Europe aren't interested in Maseratis or other clubs are offering something better. What is Barcelona's secret? Whatever it is, Fernando Torres didn't care to stick around to figure it out.

Juventus' CEO, Giuseppe Marotta, claimed that Juventus' lack of a "clinical striker" was a major part of the undoing of his club. Apparently this was not a problem during the 49 game unbeaten streak. Alessandro Del Piero's 3 goals in 23 league appearances last season is sorely missed by the Italian giants. Inter could not have possibly won this game because they were the better team, they don't even give the referees presents. If there is one thing that is certain about this match, it is that the referee did not drive home in a brand new Maserati.

The floor is now open for bets on which teams will be involved in a match fixing scandal at the end of the 2012-2013 Italian Serie A season. Good luck and choose wisely.

What do you mean the beard wasn't enough?

A New Power

Last week Major League Soccer made a definitive statement to the world. The MLS All-Star game does not follow the same format as all other American All-Star contests. There is no useless skill competition or any type of meaningless competition outside the game itself. However, even the game is unique to other American All-Star games. There is only one MLS All-Star team, comprised of the best players from the league. There is no East and West team, thus allowing for only the creme of the crop to make it. This one super-team takes on a foreign power in a one game showdown. This year's opponent, Chelsea, was the defending European Champions, having won the prestigious Champions League trophy despite finishing 6th in the Premier League. The Champions League victory stole a Champions League spot from Tottenham Hotspur in the 2012-2013 campaign. Tottenham will have to compete in the Europa League with Inter Milan instead. Maybe teams like Tottenham and Inter will give the Europa League more pizzazz.

How the hell did we win this?

 Chelsea's Champions League victory earned them the "Champions of Europe" label. This coveted title was brought to U.S. soil when Chelsea arrived to take on the MLS's powerhouse team. Upon Chelsea's arrival, the whole nation should have been warned that John Terry was in the country so everyone could get ready to hide their wives and girlfriends. Terry has also been under scrutiny for racism recently, so hopefully no one's feelings were hurt while he was here either. En route to Champions League glory, Chelsea somehow managed to eliminate heavy favorites Barcelona from the competition in the semi-finals. Not even Barcelona's little genius, Lionel Messi, could score when Chelsea had nine men and the goalkeeper defending the goal, don't forget that Torres was not defending which allowed him to score that crazy goal. Messi's 70+ goals this year for Barcelona could not get a Champions League title or the La Liga title. One man cannot win it all, at least not all the time. Sorry Messi, maybe you'll have to score 80+ goals to win trophies unless David Villa can come back and make an impact on goal.

Barcelona, arguably the greatest club side of all time, was eliminated by Chelsea as well as Bayern Munich in the final. Chelsea, despite losing extremely valuable striker Didier Drogba to Chinese soccer, should be able to handle the MLS All-Star team. Absolutely not correct. The MLS All-Star team defeated Chelsea 3-2, with goals from Chris Wondolowski, Chris Pontius, and Eddie Johnson. John Terry was even kind enough to stop the ball for Wondolowski to open the scoring. Terry Redeemed himself later with the equalizing header off a corner, but the MLS All-Star team proved too strong for the Champions. Eddie Johnson's game winning goal was one of huge proportions, lifting his side to the victory in stoppage time. By the transitive property, which is always correct, the MLS All-Stars would be the best team in Europe if they did compete in Europe. John Terry and Frank Lampard's goals were not enough to defeat the powerhouse that is the 2012 MLS All-Star team.

Greatest Team Ever Assembled

The glory goes beyond simply defeating the European Champions. Chelsea beat Barcelona, the greatest thing ever, even better than sliced bread which also bows down to the Catalans. The MLS All-Stars, by beating Chelsea, are superior to Barcelona, too. Looks like Messi and CR7 are going to have a third party joining them in the debate for the best player in the world. Who that man will be, I do not know, but it could be Wonolowski since he was astonishingly able to get John Terry to help him out, a man who would much rather be fooling around with Wondolowski's significant other and yelling derogatory remarks at  Eddie Johnson and Thierry Henry. Now that's an impressive feat that neither Messi nor CR7 has accomplished.

The MLS has come a long way since it's inauguration and is quickly making up lost ground created by Americans' prejudice against soccer. But how can anyone argue with a victory carrying the magnitude of defeating the current European Champions? Not only is the MLS relevant, but simply the best.

Up For the Occasion

Today marked the final group stage matches in the Euro Championship for Group B, labeled the group of death. Group B earned this name because it was deemed the toughest group in the whole tournament with all four teams ranked in the top ten in the world by Fifa. Coming into today's fixtures any of the four teams had a chance to qualify for the knockout stages. Germany (3rd in the world) was pitted against Denmark (9th in the world), while Portugal (10th in the world) was facing the underachieving Netherlands (4th in the world).

The most intriguing story line was the Portugal versus Netherlands game. The lackluster Dutch side needed a two goal victory over Portugal who had not seen much production at all from superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (CR7) in the first two games. CR7 showed up for this one, scoring two goals and hitting the post twice in a game where Portugal defeated the Netherlands 2-1 to secure a spot in the knockout stages. Ronaldo has been under some heat for not performing as well for Portugal as he does for his club team, Real Madrid. He silenced the haters, at least for now with a great performance. He also nearly had an assist, too, on a great pass to Nani, but Nani's shot was denied by a brilliant save by the Dutch keeper.

I score goals and look great

CR7 played aggressively throughout the game, went on many great runs, and created commotion near the Dutch net weather by shooting or creating opportunities for teammates. The Netherlands came out on fire with a quick goal from Rafael van der Vart in the opening moments of the game, but Portugal dominated for the most part from that point on. Only van der Vart's shot that hit the post in the second half looked threatening as Robin van Persie failed to make an impact despite getting at least one golden opportunity.

This is probably the worst showing for the Netherlands at a Euro cup given that the team lost all three games it played, but credit must be given to their opponents. Germany is a great side and Denmark fought hard in it's three games. Apparently there is unrest flowing through the Dutch team, but it looks like they all developed some Arjen Robben choking habits, maybe with the exception of van der Vart who looked great when given a chance to start. It's also time for people to calm down the shit talk on CR7, he's a wonderful player and he'll always look better than you, too.

Champions League Final Set

My prediction regarding the second leg of Barcelona and Chelsea's tie in the semifinal of the Champions League was dead wrong. I predicted a 4-0 Barcelona victory, but in fact the end result was a 2-2 tie that saw Chelsea advance to the final on an aggregate score of 3-2. There were 4 goals scored, so I had that part down. Barcelona's defeat has been hit with harsh remarks fired at the stars of the squad, mainly Messi for missing a penalty kick that would have made it considerably hard for Chelsea to come back from. Blaming the loss on one player is unfair, no one really knows why Barcelona, allegedly the best team in the history of anything, failed to win. Barcelona's loss just proves how hard it is to maintain such dominant form. Not many teams expect to find themselves victorious in every tournament every year.

Looking at the other side of this semifinal match up, Chelsea has managed to reach the final of the Champions League despite sitting in 6th place in the Premier League and struggling to find good, consistent form. One of the concerns for Chelsea is that they have four players that are ineligible to participate in the final. Three of these people have yellow card accumulation issues and one repulsive man is excluded due to a red card. The yellow card offenders include Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires, and Raul Meireles. There is a movement attempting to allow the yellow card offenders to play in the final, but the important news is that John Terry will not be playing in the final after his attempt to cornhole Alexis Sanchez with his knee, which earned him a red card. Everyone should know that Terry will not be on the field on May 19, 2012, so make sure he is nowhere near your wife or girlfriend. Chelsea will meet Bayern Munich in the final after Bayern's victory over Real Madrid yesterday in a penalty kick shootout.

When both Real Madrid and Barcelona reached the semifinal of the Champions League, there was a great chance to have El Clasico in the final. I actually think that it is good for the soccer world that this is not the case. While Barcelona and Real Madrid are both spectacular teams full of great players and headed by wonderful coaches, I think it is good for there to be some variety in winners. Chelsea versus Bayern Munich might not be the ideal match up, but at least John Terry can't play. Over the past two seasons, since Barcelona has become known as the greatest team ever, since Mourinho went to the helm at Real Madrid, and the battle between CR7 and Messi started, I think many people need a break from these two teams. Bayern Munich is a great team headed by two outstanding wingers in Ribery and Robben, even if one has problems with prostitutes and the other has trouble staying on his feet and not getting injured.

Bayern Munich earned its spot in the final by advancing over Real Madrid in a game that came down to penalties. Manuel Neuer looks like he was worth signing after his tremendous performance in the penalty shootout, and Sergio Ramos' awful attempt at a penalty kick. Advancement looked improbable for Bayern after CR7 scored two quick goals in the early stages of the match, but Robben put them right back in the hunt when he netted a penalty kick (CR7 scored one penalty, too). Bayern continued to fight valiantly and forced the penalty shootout where Neuer came up so big. I hope Oliver Kahn is proud. Hopefully Chelsea doesn't use extremely defensive tactics in an effort to suppress Bayern's attacking style of soccer, similar to how they played in the second leg versus Barcelona. Chelsea should have confidence in their attackers, especially after Torres scored the winning goal against Barcelona.

I see you, Neuer

Fernando Torres has been struggling to put the ball in the back of the net ever since joining Chelsea during last year. Now that he has scored the game winner against mighty Barcelona and stuck the figurative dagger in the players' and fans' heart, he should have some confidence going into the final that Chelsea should look to tap into. There is no doubt that Bayern will come out attacking, that's their style of play. Real Madrid also plays an aggressive attacking style which made the match up between the too so entertaining. There's no telling what Chelsea will do in the final given that they are without Terry and some other players, but Bayern is also missing players due to yellow card accumulation including Luiz Gustavo, David Alaba, and Holger, Badstuber. Neither side will be able to field its strongest team, but the teams will be far from a reserve team match up.

Not many people had Chelsea versus Bayern Munich pegged in the final, but it creates an interesting game. Bayern Munich has played as two different teams throughout the year. Sometimes Bayern plays like the best team in the world and at other times look like an average team. At one point Bayern won a few games in a row by outrageous scorelines, simply obliterating opposition. However, Bayern was unable to win the Bundesliga, with Dortmund taking the domestic title for the second year in a row. Chelsea has been on the decline for a few years, they haven't been terrible, but they used to be a threat to win the Premier League for the last few years, but have struggled as of late. 6th place in the Premier League is struggling by the team's current standards, and Roman Abramovic expectations considering the amount of money he has put into the team.

The final perplexes me, I have no idea what to expect out of this game. If anyone actually reads this, feel free to share your score prediction on the final and any other thoughts you have on the game. I'm going with Bayern Munich taking this one 2-1, and remember, watch out for Terry because he will not, I repeat, will not be on the pitch for this one. One final note, Fernando Torres deserves congratulations for scoring the game winner versus Barcelona. The guy has taken so much heat since joining Chelsea that it must really be taking a toll on him. His teammates might be scumbags, cue John Terry and Ashley Cole (I didn't forget about that clown), but if Chelsea had to advance to the final, I'm glad it was Torres that did it for them. Good signing, Abramovic.

Champions League Shocker

Despite yesterday's match between Chelsea and Barcelona being played in England, the 1-0 Chelsea victory still stands out as a  shocking result. Chelsea has had some rough patches in the Premier League, currently occupying the sixth spot, but has enjoyed success in the Champions League where they now head into the second leg against Barcelona with a goal advantage. This is a good position for Chelsea, but do not forget who they are playing, Barcelona, a team that blows away sliced bread. Barcelona might be trailing Real Madrid in La Liga, but this is only by a deficit of four points, and the end result of the first leg requires attention far beyond the final 1-0 score line.

Chelsea did score the lone goal, which is the most important stat in the game, but they capitalized on one golden opportunity. Throughout the course of the game, Chelsea managed only two shots, one of which was  on target and happened to be the only goal scored, nice job Valdes. Actually , no one can blame Valdes, the guy may as well bring a pillow to every game and take a nap. Barcelona would allow roughly the same amount of goals throughout the course of a season if he did take naps. This game was no different with Barcelona controlling 74% of the possession and probably completing around 1,000 passes. Barcelona managed six shots on target and hit the post twice, generating a total of 23 attempts. By no means were the Spanish Powerhouse slacking or under-performing. In fact, the statistics to this game look very similar to many games Barcelona plays, the goals were the only stat that did not reflect how much they dominated this game. The finishing of Barcelona just wasn't there and when Fabregas directed the ball toward the net, a great defensive play was made to prevent the goal from being scored.

Passing Machine

Going home in a one goal hole is nothing for Barcelona to worry about. Defeating Barcelona at home is extremely difficult, even coming in with an advantage in the aggregate score. Inter Milan knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League in 2010, but that was following a 3-1 win for Inter in their home leg. I'm predicting a 4-0 win for Barcelona in the second leg with Messi scoring two goals and reaping the praise of countless people as the greatest player now and of all eternity. For Chelsea to win this game, Abramovich would need to pay out some serious cash to the referees, which he could probably afford, but that probably still would not be enough to beat Barcelona at home, especially in such an important game. Instead, Abramovich will most likely use that money to purchase another repulsive player so John Terry can mess around with his wife/girlfriend. That's beside the point, though. What deserves recognition in respect to the upcoming second leg between Barcelona and Chelsea is that Barcelona controlled the first game regardless of the score. It is also very doubtful that Chelsea will be able to hold Barcelona to fewer than two goals at the Camp Nou. That would mean that Chelsea would need to score again to hold on to any hope of advancing to the final, which would be very difficult if they generate the same attack as in the first game.

As mentioned earlier, Inter was able to dispose of Barcelona in the Champions League, but that was in the midst of a truly wonderful season in which Jose "The Special One" Mourinho guided his team to the coveted Treble. That Inter team had a spectacular year whether you would like to admit it or not and Jose Mourinho is a master mind coach, again, whether you would like to admit it or not. Chelsea already fired Andre Villas Boas and are under the control of Roberto Di Matteo. Only the most optimistic of Chelsea fans would believe that Di Matteo can find a way to stop the Barcelona onslaught in the second leg.

I think you can expect Barcelona to come out in the second leg doing nothing different than usual. Barcelona will hold possession, thus controlling the game, and harass Chelsea's defense like John Terry does to his teammates wives. Okay, I'll stop with the John Terry jokes, but I still don't like what he does. Barcelona will also accomplish it's most usual result, a victory. Barcelona is a winning team and they do that very well. While the type of soccer Barcelona plays does not cater to everyone, no one can deny that it is a recipe for victory that the club has nearly perfected (because if it was perfected they would never lose, perfect is perfect, no excuses) over the last few years. Without hesitation I'm taking Barcelona to win the second leg decisively and claim a spot in the Champions League final.

This Guy Kiddin'?

Earlier this week former Brazilian soccer star and legend, Pele, had the audacity to assert that fellow countryman Neymar is a better soccer player than Barcelona's Lionel Messi. Normally the debate on who the best soccer player in the world results in a comparison between Messi and Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (CR7), two well established players with many accolades in their respective careers despite young age. While I am sick of hearing this debate, at least it makes sense. Both Messi and CR7 abuse opposing defenses and rack up goals at an alarming rate while playing for two of the best, if not the two best, club teams in the world. What makes no sense is Pele's comment that Neymar is better than Messi, which by the transitive property also makes him better than CR7. The only acceptable response: this guy kiddin'?

Has Pele seen my trophies?

I don't like Maradona, but I agree with him that Pele's comment was absolutely absurd and erroneous. Let's take a look at how Neymar stacks up to Messi. Both Messi and Neymar have played for the same club teams for the duration of their careers. Messi is part of an immensely successful Barcelona side that is arguably the greatest team in the history of anything. Neymar plays for Santos in the Brazilian league. Santos has a good side, but cannot stack up to many European powers and were decimated by Messi's Barcelona in the 2011 Club World Cup 4-0 in a game where Messi netted two goals. Santos did win the Copa Libertadores to qualify for the tournament while Barcelona won the Champions League to earn its spot. I think it goes without saying that the Champions League is one of the toughest tournaments to win in any sport.

Not only is Barcelona extremely successful, but Messi is the main man. He has won the Fifa Ballon d"Or three consecutive years, awarded to the best player, and produces eye-popping goal totals. Take this year for example, Messi has scored 61 goals in 51 games in all competitions up to this point. The guy is on the verge to break the all-time record for most goals scored in one season by a player in Europe, which is basically the most goals scored in a season ever since Europe has the most competitive leagues. Neymar has  15 goals in 15 club goals this season which is a ridiculous ratio, it's very hard achieve the one goal to every game ratio, even for the most gifted of strikers, but Messi's this season is 1.196 over a much greater sample size. Additionally, Neymar is playing in Brazil's first division which doesn't match up to La Liga or most leagues in Europe. While the Brazilian league is very entertaining and often comes down to an exciting race for the title at the end of the season, most top flight European leagues have better quality teams.

Neymar is still very young and has yet to prove himself in an elite league. I know that is a cliche argument, but it's true. Pele might want Neymar to stay in Santos, like he did, but times have changed. Any soccer player with good talent, especially of the caliber that Neymar possesses, needs to go to Europe. Messi, despite playing out his entire career in Spain has a goal to game ratio of 0.75 (241 goals in 320 games) while Neymar's is 0.548 (96 goals in 175 games). The only argument I could attempt to make in respect to the number of goals that Messi has amassed in such a short amount of time is that Spanish teams don't play the same type of defense as seen in other leagues, such as Italian teams. But then again, it's not Messi's fault that the Spanish teams don't have a bunch of hacks in their defensive line.

We take no prisoners

Internationally, neither have achieved much success and only time will tell if they do. Neymar is still very young and has only just recently been called up for national team duty. Messi has not won anything with Argentina, but all the fault does not rest on his shoulders and he will be back with a talented Argentina side. This is an area between the two that is wide open, neither has the upper hand, but that does very little to sway the argument. Actually, it does nothing, Messi is still superior despite a lack of international success.

Another sign that Pele's claim has no foundation is that I cannot think of anything to mention about Neymar. Neymar is a good striker, but he hasn't accomplished anything near the level of Messi, at least not yet. There are tons of trophies that Messi has won and he scores goals at such an improbable rate that there is no comparison between him and Neymar at this point. Pele probably doesn't want Messi known as the greatest in the world because of the Brazil versus Argentina rivalry. Pele should calm down, Brazil has more World Cup titles than Argentina, which holds a great deal of weight when speaking of national team sides, especially in South America. Again, the World Cup is a more prestigious award than the Copa America, at least in my estimation.

The competition between Pele and Maradona regarding who the greatest football player of all time is one of the most annoying debates alive in sports right now. Both of them should just stop talking about the subject and so should everyone else. Their time has come and gone and it is quite possible that Messi is better than either of them ever were. I also think it is incredibly stupid that many people fail to mention Brazilian Ronaldo, R9, Il Fenomeno, the goalkeeper's worst nightmare, in the conversation. Pele is also famed for his illustrious feat, scoring over 1,000 goals. But this mark is questionable since friendlies were taken into account as well as goals scored in the backyard during pickup games.

This is funny because I don't like Maradona

Pele, we all know you love your country and countrymen, but honestly, there is no basis for proclaiming that Neymar is better than Lionel "the little genius" Messi. This is coming from me, a guy who loves Brazilian soccer players and has a hard time appreciating the dominance that describes Barcelona right now. Messi is better than Neymar right now. I don't know if Neymar can reach Messi's level, but that's sure an incredibly difficult task. The only person currently in soccer that can even be mentioned in the discussion for world's best player with Messi is CR7, and maybe Heskey, but there's no one else.

It's Heskey Time!!!