I was assured by some posters on this board that he was old and washed up.
Messi with a hat trick in Argentina’s WC opener
- Thread starter FlotownDawg
- Start date
Keep it up and you’ll be on a two week vacation. We get it. You don’t like soccer. Move the 17 along.
Miss the *** in my post? Give me a break. This ain't my life. Why the damn strong arm over a sport most gen Xers give no **** about? Yet Irish can come and go as he pleases during actual MSU sports(only during the hard times). Most of this bored(yeah I can spell it right if I want)wants nothing to do with his BS. Gimme the vacation you want but my life and my MSU fandom will go on. Damn near Fitty years being a bulldog fan but I have to bow down to soccer. It was a joke. Oh well. You do you straw boss.
I hear he is about to get an offer to play at Texas tech in softball
It was Algeria. Some of y'all have no idea about this sport. National teams are not the top level in the sport and Algeria is not a top level international team. Messi is still good enough to torch them, and MLS. He isn't good enough to play at the top level anymore, and he doesn't. He doesn't have the legs for a season at the top level. A few exhibition games in the summer? Yeah, he might be able to pull that off, especially against the weaker teams.
Some of y'all also seem to think I didn't think he was ever a great player. That is not the case. He absolutely was the GOAT in his day.
Some of y'all also seem to think I didn't think he was ever a great player. That is not the case. He absolutely was the GOAT in his day.
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This has got to be a low point in MSU message board history. Wielding a 2 week moderator ban for a joke over a sport that 95% of America ignores. Calm down, Desoto. yikes.
It’s just that the soccer fans on this board would like to discuss the sport’s biggest event (and the world’s biggest sporting event) without people jumping in every World Cup thread telling everyone how much they don’t like the sport and how stupid it is. I don’t understand why people do that.
But how many of the top European League stars are scoring hat tricks in this watered down World Cup? I mean, yeah, it's just Algeria, but it's not like they're playing top 10 teams either. Don't kid yourself. The guy can still play. He's not quite what he once was, but he's still better than 90% of the players playing in the top 5 European leagues today.
You’re trying too hard.
Messi is still unanimously considered one of the Top 15-20 players in the world right now, even now at 38 years old. And still being able to play at that level at that age is pretty rare.
He is playing in MLS because it’s a pretty cush pre-retirement gig for someone who has nothing left to accomplish or prove in Europe. He literally won the Ballon d’Or while playing for Inter Miami in 2023.
So, it seems that people who matter still clearly believe that he’s good enough to play at the top level….and he’s not doing MLS just because he can’t keep up with the young ‘uns in Europe.
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- 4 years ago, he led Argentina to the World Cup trophy. (I guess he was a young man in his prime then?)
- Since then he's completely dominated MLS, shattering records and I think won league MVP his first two years there. (All the players in MLS suck, so that explains that.)
- He just scored a hat trick in the first WC match this year - at 39 years old, the oldest person to ever do it. He just tied the all-time goal scoring record in WC with 16. But Algeria is 'only' ranked 28 in the world, so that explains it.
The poor guy just can't do enough to impress you. Tough crowd.
And my point 2 or 3 years ago still stands - he has made a huge impact on Inter Miami and MLS overall. You said he was old and washed up then and wouldn't make an impact.
MLS IS a retirement gig for someone of his status. If he was still one of the top 15-20 players in the world, he would still be playing his club ball at a place like Barcelona. Instead, he is at Inter Miami. He knows, even if y'all don't.
MLS is about equivalent to League One in England. What he did IS impressive at his age. It does not mean that he is still one of the top players in the world. He once was THE top player, and he held that status longer than anyone else ever has. I won't tarnish that by trying to pretend he is still that at 39 years old.
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I disagree. Most teams in the Championship aren't that far below the lower level EPL teams. MLS is nowhere near that level. I'd say upper level League One.
Rankings? He ranks himself as a MLS player. That's all you need to know, it really is.
No one is claiming the sport is more popular than the NFL in the US, especially not the Super Bowl. It's sort of apples and oranges, when the one I referenced was a first round soccer match. But still it outpaced the NBA average viewership for their championship series. I only posted that in response to the "95% of people ignore soccer so we should not post about it" comment. Should we not discuss the NBA finals on here either now?
We will most likely never know, but it would be an interesting perspective if the US ever made the finals in the World Cup, to see how that compared to the above Super Bowl numbers.
MLS is below Championship, but much much better than League One. Opta Power Rankings show Championship #9, MLS #17 and League One #41.
I was thinking the same thing yesterday. I don't think it would reach Super Bowl numbers, but I could see it drawing 80-90 million.
Pretty sure no one has ever argued that soccer is more popular than NFL football in the USA. But thanks for letting us know. For what it's worth, a group stage game vs freaking Paraguay drew comparable viewers as the NCAA championship game did.
I’m going to say this again…..He won the most prestigious international award there is for being the BEST SOCCER PLAYER IN THE WORLD…..while he was playing for Inter Miami…..in the MLS.
Generally speaking, the best soccer player in the world can play on whatever 17ing team he wants to play for. In 2023, it just so happens that the best soccer player in the world wanted to live in and play in one of the most vibrant cities in the Western hemisphere, which is probably also the closest first world, developed city to his home country. Far closer than 17ing anywhere in Europe is. It’s not that hard to figure out.
Ehhh….I don’t think he does, because it seems to me that he went out and scored 3 goals yesterday and set a new personal best for his World Cup career.
Somebody should probably whisper in his ear whatever it is that you know, because evidently he’s clueless and he still thinks he’s pretty good.
If Messi wanted, he would walk into the starting lineup of just about any team in Europe today. He doesn’t want that. He has nothing more to prove in the top European leagues. He wants a nice quality of life and a less demanding schedule and league to play in during the final couple of years before his retirement. He’s also in one of the media capitals of the world and is continuing to grow his brand which will set him up long after he retires, much like David Beckham did. “Messi isn’t that good” is a weird hill to die on.
