Messi is great, but was he the best?
THE media and social spaces were awash with news on reactions to Lionel Messi’s feat — winning his eighth World Player of the Year title.
I will say from the onset that I believe Messi sits comfortably among the top five greatest footballers to have ever played the game.
He has produced numerous moments of magic and has won many titles and fans for the teams he has played for.
He is a legend — a real one, not the ones thrown around after a season or two.
He won his first Ballon d’Or in 2009 when he was 22 years old.
This would mean he has been at the top of the game for 14 years.
Give that some thought.
He was in a team that featured Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry as his supporting
ZIMBABWE needs to embrace the video assistant referee (VAR) system if local football is to be at par with the rest of the world, top Zimbabwean and African referees instructor Felix Tangawarima has said.
Tangawarima, together with referees fitness trainer Mark Mzengo of Malawi, are presently in the country conducting a FIFA Member Association elite referees and match commissioners’ course.
The record eight-time Zimbabwe Referee of the Year, who handles the technical aspects of training, will also hold another course for “young talent” from November 13 to 17.
“VAR is here to stay. Why am I saying so? It is because it has now been incorporated into the laws of the game,” said Tangawarima, who is also the COSAFA referees’ manager.
“As Zimbabwe, we have to embrace the new technology.
“The consequences of us not taking up this challenge is that, for example, at the Africa Cup of Nations next year, we are going to start from the group stage with VAR, and what does that mean to your referees? It means, if you do not have referees who are trained as VAR, they are not going to the Africa Cup of Nations.
“So, what we have done as a zone, as COSAFA, is, we have actually spearheaded the training of our referees so that they are compliant with the requirements of VAR, and we started with a once-off activity in Zambia.”
VAR has been used at continental tournaments such as the Africa Cup of Nations, CAF Champions League, Confederation Cup and, lately, at the recently held COSAFA Women’s Championship in South Africa.
A MOMENT of brilliance from man-of-themoment Jerrison Selemani early in the first half was all it took for defending champions FC Platinum to add to Chicken Inn’s misery in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League tie at Luveve Stadium yesterday.
Selemani beat the Gamecocks goalkeeper, Donovan Bernard, against the run of play, striking from inside the box just 13 minutes into the game.
Despite conceding what would prove the game’s decider, it was Chicken Inn who had a good opening spell.
They could, however, not turn it into goals, with Brian Muza the chief culprit.
FC Platinum still have a mathematical chance of claiming a record fifth straight title, and Selemani’s goal could be among those priceless efforts should they go on to eventually pip Ngezi Platinum, Dynamos, Manica Diamonds and Highlanders, who are also in the hunt for the championship.
The Gamecocks are now fighting for a decent finish to a campaign that went off the rails two months ago when they went on a long barren spell.
In Gweru, Sheasham produced a sublime second-half performance to dent Manica Diamonds’ title aspirations with a 2-0 win in a highly emotive match at Bata Stadium.
The victory also helped ease the newboys’ own relegation worries.
Hillary Bakacheza and Leonard Jani scored the goals that secured the points for Sheasham.
It was a result that derailed Manica Diamonds’ title hopes after the Marange miners appeared to have bounced back into the race midweek when they upstaged Dynamos 1-0.
The Manica Diamonds technical team, led by coach Jairos Tapera, left their technical area with five minutes remaining to protest against referee Jimmy Makwanda’s handling of the match.
However, the miners paid dearly for failing to capitalise on their first-half dominance.
Manica Diamonds assistant coach Taf
Cranborne Bullets ...............1 Triangle ....................... 0
IF Cranborne Bullets are to go down at the end of the season, one player — Tinotenda Meke — is unlikely to accompany them to Division One.
The unheralded teenage left winger’s speed and skill have won over many suitors in the Premier Soccer League.
The 18-year-old capped off another fine afternoon with a goal, as bottom-placed Cranborne Bullets edged Triangle at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
That result left Triangle in the relegation zone following Sheasham’s 2-0 win over Manica Diamonds at Bata Stadium yesterday.
Triangle are now 15th on the log with 31 points, while Sheasham are now 13th with 34 points, going into the last four matches of the season. acts upfront, with a midfield engine room that featured the tireless Seydou Keita and Sergio Busquets, as well as the skill and guile of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.
His defenders included Dani Alves, Rafael Marquez, Eric Abidal and Gerard Pique, among others.
None of the players featured there can legitimately claim to be still at the peak of their powers.
In fact, Xavi is now in his second season as manager of Barcelona.
The kind of longevity and sustained brilliance the Ballon d’Or organisers are trying to get us to believe is not respectful.
I do not think he is still the best player in the world today.
And I do not think he was the best player
MAN A . . . Felix Tangawarima (in red shirt) poses for a picture with local elite referees and match assessors while in the company of the Normalisation Committee leadership — Lincoln Mutasa (in dark suit) and Rosemary Mugadza at Village. — Picture: media
Last month, FIFA head of development programmes for Africa Solomon Mudege hinted that the world soccer governing body would conduct VAR training for local referees, in conjunction with CAF, from next year.
Tangawarima reiterated that “there is no going back on the use of VAR”.
“I am extremely excited to be back home and to try and develop my own referees.
“When I look at what I have done for the entire continent, I think my referees in the Argentina team that won the World Cup in Qatar last year.
He was indeed influential but was he the best?
This year’s Ballon d’Or felt like an obligatory homage to a great star.
It played out like a sentimental reverence to a star footballer who finally secured the sacred trophy (for his nation) that has been eluding him all his career.
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland was nine years old when Messi won his first Ballon d’Or.
This year, he had a strong case to be called the best in the world.
His goals took Manchester City to the pinnacle of European football.
He also led them as they won their first-ever UEFA Champions League.
are lagging behind and we are here trying to help them,” he said.
“What really pains me most is that when I go around Africa, most of the top referees I see there are my products but you don’t see my Zimbabwean referees.
“But unfortunately, in terms of the FIFA policy, we cannot intervene on the training; we can only wait to be called in like what they (ZIFA) have done now.”
He also urged the new generation of referees to show more commitment to their job and shun corruption.
Jude Bellingham was a six-year-old when Messi won his first Ballon d’Or and was easily the best English player at the last World Cup, as well as one of the highlights of the tournament at the age of 19.
His performances for Borussia Dortmund stood out above Messi’s at Paris Saint-Germain.
His current season with Real Madrid is exceptional.
But Messi spent the last two seasons at an underwhelming PSG side, where he was consistently outperformed by Kylian Mbappe to the extent that fans began booing him.
It is not rational and acceptable to believe that with these footballers playing at the highest level of the game, they are still not yet good enough to be better than what Messi was in
“A person of integrity is someone who can never betray moral principles in order to preserve their own interests or those of another party,” he said.
“Referees must not change who they are in order to please those who want certain results.
“A referee is the last guardian of honesty in a football match.”
He also took time to give referees and match assessors tips on some of the tricks that match fixers use in trying to lure them. the last year.
Last weekend, the Rugby World Cup ended with South Africa’s Springboks retaining the trophy.
At the World Rugby awards, the organisers did not hand the Player of the Year trophy to Siya Kolisi because of his inspirational leadership and commitment to the national cause.
They gave it to back-row superstar Ardie Savea of New Zealand, the side that was defeated by South Africa in the final.
The rugby situation goes even further with only one South African player — lock Eben Etzebeth — in the Team of the Tournament.
This has caused an uproar, but I believe it also means South Africa have been an outstanding team, with the collective being far greater than its individual parts.
This should have made their coaches the best in the world then, if they were able to turn players who do not stand out as individuals into world champions.
I love Messi for the way he has played the game.
He has shown an amazing skillset, the kind we are unlikely to see anytime soon.
His clear love for the game was infectious and he is a great ambassador for football.
I respect him for the way he has kept his personal brand largely spotless.
I admire his passion for his nation and there is a lot to learn from his business management model. He is a true great.
However, I just do not believe he was the best in the world this year.
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