Lionel Messi
The Pioneer
The frontier and an appetite for the unknown, goes first.
Lionel Messi reads as The Pioneer because his career has been a sustained redefinition of the possible. He has broken virtually every significant scoring record in the sport, collected eight Ballon d'Or awards, and led Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup title after decades of near-misses. What distinguishes his leadership is its quietness. He leads by performance rather than rhetoric, and his teammates rise because his vision keeps enlarging the game around them.
“Diego is Diego and for me he is the greatest player of all time. Even after a million years I am not even going to be close to Maradona. I have no intention of comparing myself with Maradona - I want to make my own history for something I have achieved.”
“It doesn't matter if I am better than Cristiano Ronaldo, all that matters is that Barcelona are better than Madrid.”
“Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer) was my hero. He was the best forward I've ever seen. He was so fast that he could score a goal from nothing and he struck the ball better than anyone I've seen.”
Wikiquote: “Public record read”
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