Messi’s unexpected Maradona parallel

Carlos Javier Mac Allister played with the great Diego Armando Maradona. His son, Alexis, is playing with Lionel Andres Messi. Only one other father and son duo, Diego and Gio Simeone, can make the same claim. Like millions of other families, the Mac Allisters have long engaged in the inevitable and endless debate about which of the two greats is better. Carlos obviously leaned towards his close friend and teammate Diego, while Alexis swore by Leo, but only till recently.

Perhaps biased by recency, or by his son's and country's recent fortunes being so closely tied with that of the younger legend, Carlos admitted in a recent interview that, if he was asked right now, he would say that Messi is the best. Not because Messi has achieved more; indeed, Mac Allister Sr. rates Maradona's achievements with inferior club and country sides as unparalleled, but because Messi serves as a better example for generations to follow. An example of professionalism, discipline, and longevity. Compared to Diego's more self-destructive practices.

Carlos Javier is quick to also point out though, and this is a point I have made before, that it is futile to compare players across generations. "Compare Messi with those playing now. Don't compare Messi with Maradona or Maradona with Di Stefano," he says. .

Indeed, one cannot compare but as I saw Messi getting into uncharacteristic confrontations in the quarter-finals match against the Netherlands, I could not help but imagine a convergence of his and Diego's legacies. Leo has always been the cooler customer on the field. If anything, sometimes one got the sense that he was perhaps too cool. 

Messi's Argentina and Messi's Barcelona, with whom he has achieved most of his success at club level, are not the same ilk of footballing teams. While the club side was a well-drilled unit, composed of some of the finest talent that football had to offer, the national team often lacked similar ability and cohesion. Messi's calm brilliance may have been enough to achieve glory in Barca but one felt that for Argentina to achieve on the greatest stage, Leo had to do more than just play great football. He had to push them on through sheer will and unrestrained emotion.

In Qatar World Cup, Messi is trying to do just that. He is much expressive, much more aggressive, and much more emotional. Much more, I daresay, like Maradona.