No one can stop Barca, says Deco
Former Catalan and Portugal great has fond memories of Benni McCarthy and Ronaldo
THE one person who is never going to forget Lionel Messi’s debut for Barcelona in 2004, other than Messi himself, is retired Portuguese midfielder Deco.
At 17 years, three months and 22 days on October 16, Messi stood on the touchline waiting to come on for Deco against Espanyol.
Eleven years later, with everything but a Fifa World Cup medal in his cabinet, Messi has the world at his feet and opponents like Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng tripping over themselves and eating grass.
Deco, now a year and a half into retirement, watched the little magician work his magic against Bayern Munich in the Uefa Champions League on Wednesday night on a television screen at a car wash in Soweto.
We are at the Protea Hotel at Melrose on Thursday afternoon and Deco looks like he is still recovering from a long night, which also featured some fun in Sandton after the enthralling match. He smiles when the conversation gets to Messi and Barcelona, the club he feels has the best chance of dethroning defending Champions League champions Real Madrid this year.
Bayern did very well to keep out Barcelona for close to 80 minutes at the Camp Nou, but there was no escaping the Messi magic as the Argentine captain mixed sheer power and artistry for his first and second goals before Brazilian star Neymar calmly slotted in the third in a 30 first-leg thrashing.
“It (the performance) was incredible,” Deco said. “When I saw Leo he was in the Barcelona B. He came to the first team and everybody saw he was different. We used to say this guy is unbelievable. He is amazing,” added Deco, who has ruled out a Bayern comeback in the second leg at the Alliance Arena on Tuesday.
“Bayern have a fantastic team, but I think Barcelona have a better chance to reach the final. Of the four teams left in the tournament, Barcelona is the strongest because they have the best players. They are fit and they have improved in the past three months.”
The night before Bayern were given a footballing lesson by Barcelona, champions Madrid got a valuable away goal thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo in a 2-1 defeat to Juventus in Turin. They need to score just one goal and keep a clean sheet at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday to progress to the final for a shot at winning their 11th title.
While most fans are hoping to see an El Clasico final, Deco would like a Barcelona and Juventus final in Berlin.
“Juventus are playing like they have played in the last four or five years. They are a difficult team to play against because they defend very well and they have quality up front, with guys like Carlos Tevez. But I do not know. They are leading 2-1, which means Madrid just need to score one goal,” said Deco, who was brought to the country this week by Champions League sponsors Heineken.
“Everyone is expecting Barcelona and Real Madrid to reach the final. But if I talk like a Barcelona fan, maybe I would prefer Juventus in the final.”
Deco played with both Messi and Ronaldo, and says it’s dif- ficult to compare the players and say who is better.
“They are different and it’s difficult to compare. In my opinion Messi is natural quality, like (Diego) Maradona and Pele. Everything he does is natural quality and sometimes you say wow, like yesterday (Wednesday). When you see a guy like Leo, you say wow. Ronaldo works hard and is a fighter.”
Deco won the Champions League twice, first in 2004 with Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto side, which had former Bafana Bafana striker Benni McCarthy, and two years later with a fine Barcelona team coached by Dutchman Frank Rijkaard.
“You can compare winning the Champions League to win- ning the World Cup. All the clubs and players dream to win the Champions League.”
On McCarthy, Deco said: “Benni for me was one of the best strikers I played with. He was strong and controlled the ball very well. He scored goals with his right foot and left foot.”
Deco, who is now a players’ agent, won everything at club level but could not lift the Fifa World Cup trophy with Portugal. They came close in 2006 in Germany, but Zinedine Zidane’s solitary goal for France in the semifinal ended their dreams of winning football’s ultimate prize.
“We had a good team in 2006 when we got to the semifinal. Portugal is a small country, but we have some very talented players. It’s important to be at the World Cup every time and maybe one day we can win it.”
Deco made 75 appearances for Portugal. At club level he also played for Chelsea and Brazilian outfit Fluminense before hanging up his boots in 2013.
Everything he does is natural quality and sometimes you say wow