So much terminological inexactitude attends popular debate of who is the GOAT, the Greatest of All Times in football. Most of it is clothed in hyperbole.
Fans of Argentine great Lionel Messi submit that because he has now joined the ranks of World Cup winners, he qualifies to be GOAT.
Wrong. False on several counts.
We speak of “all times,” not of the Messi-Ronaldo era. If that be the case, that appellation belongs to Edson Arantes Do Nascimento whom the world celebrates as PELE.
Pele won three World Cup titles for Brazil. Three of Brazil’s five.
I empathise with Messi’s fans. I really do. But, him never reach.
He has bested his competitor Ronaldo in finally winning the World Cup. Congratulations.
Messi is the Greatest of An Era (GOAE) but not of ALL Times (GOAT).
Lionel Messi has done well, but he does not qualify to be the GOAT. Just because he has finally stepped on the World Cup podium? In that case, he should genuflect before Kylian Mbappe. Yes, Mbappe won the World Cup four years before Messi. And at the World Cup where sentimentalists want to crown Messi, Mbappe had a better record in hat tricks and number of goals overall. Not to then mention the winner of three World Cup trophies! Asiko youth does not cut it.
Facts are facts.
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