Speed and Creativity in Football

[j44ke]

A little video of Messi as an example of speed and creativity even in a game with an off-sides rule, as per a side bar discussion in the Euro 2012 thread.

[holliscx]

It's been a privilege watching Messi play since relocating to Barcelona from New York in 2009. How Messi slices through three and four defenders at a time reminds me of watching vintage Jordan and to a lesser extent Tiger when he used to be invincible in red on Sunday. But Messi's humility to me is #1 - he keeps it real and doesn't let his ego affect his game. When you watch Barcelona play Madrid just look at the facial expressions of Messi vs. Ronaldo. One player is slicing and dicing and visibly enjoying himself while the other flails his arms and grimaces the entire match. While one player sprints and hustles after the ball when losing possession, the other walks around aimlessly when he doesn't have possession. Messi is one of the greatest to play the beautiful game. I read a journalist describe #10 without the ball as like "a kid without his toy" - but those of us lucky to watch Jordan lace 'em up for all of those glorious playoff runs - Messi is doing the same thing right here and now at Barcelona.