Lionel Messi

Diego Costa Says What We’re All Thinking: Without Messi, Argentina Is Nothing

For anyone who paid the slightest bit of attention to Argentina throughout the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying cycle, Spain’s resounding 6-1 defeat of La Albiceleste comes as no surprise. Without Messi, Argentina has zero business being at this World Cup. The statistics, again, bear repeating:

Without Messi, Argentina played eight matches in qualifying. They won one. They scored 0.75 goals per game. They lost to Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia. They drew with Venezuela. Tata Martino was sacked and so was his successor, Edgardo Bauza. 

With These Words Messi Cast A Spell On Paulinho, Prevents Him From Taking Free-Kick

We all know Messi has infinite magic in his left foot. However, not many of us are aware that ‘La Pulga’ also possesses some hypnotic verbal abilities.

FC Barcelona’s Paulinho has recently revealed in an interview with El Periódico that a few words uttered by Messi were enough to prevent him from taking a free kick in an international friendly against Messi’s Argentina.

Lionel Messi's Hair And Beard Through The Years

As Lionel Messi has grown more adult, so has his hair. Except for that blonde thing a while back. We'll get to that. Anyway, Messi's hair and beard have gradually mutated from a clean-shaven, moppy-haired boyish look to a bearded, crew-cutted mannish look. Let's take a look at how this transformation came about:

Can Ronaldo Really Catch Messi At The Top Of La Liga's Scoring Chart?

Two months ago we would have said this wasn't possible. In fact, we specifically remember thinking a few months ago that it wouldn't be possible, but here we are: Cristiano Ronaldo absolutely has a chance to overtake Messi for La Liga top scorer.

Despite suffering through a suspension and the worst form of his career, Ronaldo is on fire and finds himself just three goals behind Messi at the top of the Spanish goal-scoring charts (Messi also leads La Liga in assists).

3 Nations Primed For Devastatingly Poor World Cups

Since the turn of the 21st century, it’s happened without fail: every World Cup, three nations that began the tournament ranked in FIFA’s top 20 have been unceremoniously dumped from the competition at the group stage. In fact, in two of the four World Cups this century, three of the world’s top 10 ranked sides have capitulated before the knockout rounds. 

Here’s a rundown of the three highest ranked sides to fall at the first hurdle in the last four tournaments:

2002 

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