They were two small Argentina players with the same enormous challenge -- to meet the expectations of a soccer-mad country. Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi have both proved themselves to be skilful giants on the world soccer stage despite their diminutive frames of 1.65 and 1.70 metres respectively.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup semi-final between Argentina and Croatia played at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.
Chile have never beaten Argentina in open play in 27 Copa America meetings in 100 years yet have twice in 12 months dashed the hopes of Lionel Messi's team of lifting a major trophy.
A summary of Sunday's action in Serie A and Bundesliga.
Lionel Messi saved Argentina's blushes with a brilliant stoppage time winner against unheralded Iran at the football World Cup on Saturday to send the South Americans into the last 16.
Lionel Messi became the first Argentine to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award on Monday. The 22-year-old forward, who also landed the European Footballer of the Year prize earlier this month, picked up the accolade after collecting four major titles with Barcelona -- the Champions League, the Club World Cup, La Liga and the King's Cup.
As the mercurial Messi rings in his 28th birthday, Rediff.com brings you all the exciting moments from the ace footballer's life.
Al Hilal, managed by Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus, play Al Fayha on Saturday with Neymar expected to wear the number 10 shirt.
Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi has backed Atletico Madrid to seal this year's Champions League title, saying his team don't want to see Real Madrid claim the trophy.
Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo had reportedly 'taunted' Barcelona ace Lionel Messi after he won the Ballon d'Or by parading the trophy before Madrid's match against Granada, before firing a message as to who is the best around.
Lionel Messi of European champions Barcelona was named the European Club Player of the Year on Thursday for helping his side lift the UEFA Champions League trophy last season. Argentine Messi was also named forward of the year with his club mate Xavi Hernandez, who also played a key role for Barca last season, named as midfielder of the year ahead of a third Barcelona club mate Andres Iniesta.
Here is what you need to know about their route to the final
For Argentina players and captain Messi, who netted twice in the 120 minutes before also scoring in the shoot-out, it was the biggest title of their careers.
The number of assists is used as a tiebreaker to separate players who are level on goals scored. If they are tied on both counts, the winner is decided by who played the fewest minutes.
Lionel Messi celebrated a second successive World Player of the Year award with a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed second division Real Betis 5-0 in a King's Cup quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
Seven times reigning winner Lionel Messi was not nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or for the first time since 2005 and nor was his Paris Saint-Germain team mate Neymar.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic christened Sweden's new stadium with a sprinkling of gold on Wednesday, scoring three classy goals and an unforgettable one in a 4-2 friendly win over England, while Argentina's Lionel Messi drew a blank in Riyadh.
Argentina marked the revival of the Cup of Champions in style as an inspired Lionel Messi helped them outclass Italy 3-0 in a heavyweight clash billed as the 'Finalissima' at a raucous Wembley Stadium in London on Wednesday.
A summary of the concluding day's action in the Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Saudi Pro League.
Lionel Messi broke the deadlock and Luis Suarez scored twice in the second half to give Barcelona a typically emphatic 3-0 win over River Plate in the Club World Cup final on Sunday.
A magical Lionel Messi goal, the first of a personal double, led treble-chasing Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the King's Cup final on Saturday.
Lionel Messi's World Cup double for Argentina in Wednesday's 3-2 victory over Nigeria suggests the four-time World Player of the Year may be ready to take his place among the all-time greats of the game.
Argentina won the 2021 Copa America but despite always being one of the World Cup favourites they have not lifted football's most precious trophy in the last 36 years.
Lionel Messi may lack a World Cup for Argentina but his 10 years with Barcelona have seen him rewrite the history books and become symbolic with the club's golden era.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is head strong but it appears as though he may be fighting a losing battle with the four times World Player of the Year.
So, who in your opinion, dear readers, is your favourite to win the prestigious prize at the ceremony in Zurich on January 12? Take your pick and vote now!
Fresh from propelling Barcelona to their fifth trophy of 2015, their prolific strikes are now seeking to break the Spanish record of goals in a calendar year when they play Real Betis on Wednesday.
The 50-year-old lavished praise on French forward Kylian Mbappe, who scored four goals in the summit clash but still ended on the losing side.
Salah's strikes brought him to a remarkable 43 goals in all competitions this season, keeping him at the front of the list of top scorers in Europe
With a fifth world player of the year award safely tucked away in the trophy cabinet, Lionel Messi can set his sights on one of the next milestones in his remarkable career: reaching 500 goals for club and country. The Barcelona and Argentina forward can add to his jaw-dropping tally of 479 in 609 official games -- 430 for Barca and 49 for his national team -- in Sunday's La Liga match at home to Athletic Bilbao. The 28-year-old from Rosario, who picked up the FIFA Ballon d'Or on Monday, is looking close to his best following a two-month injury layoff late last year and netted a hat-trick when second-placed Barca crushed Granada 4-0 at the Nou Camp last weekend in their most recent outing in Spain's top flight.
With five titles, Barca are now level with AC Milan on all-time UEFA Super Cup winners list
Kylian Mbappe could even be sold this summer as PSG will seek to prevent him from leaving for free.
Barcelona have won the Champions League five times, most recently in 2015, and face a tough task to get back to the top table of European football after being forced to sell club legend Lionel Messi due to financial problems.
There are few individual gongs that elude Lionel Messi and he is fast closing in on one that is missing from his trophy cabinet: the European Golden Shoe (www.eurotopfoot.com).
Soccer fans watch the telecast of the World Cup game between Argentina and Saudi Arabia on a Kolkata street with the God Of Football (Diego Maradona holding the 1986 World Cup trophy poster) to keep them company.
Lionel Messi will have another chance to match or surpass Telmo Zarra's six-decade-old La Liga scoring record of 251 goals when Barcelona host promoted Eibar on Saturday.
Former Barcelona defender Alba to sign for Inter Miami
With the distraction of two individual scoring records safely out of the way, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi can turn his full focus on helping the club win the major silverware that eluded them last season.
Haaland's 45th goal was a personal record, too, for the 22-year-old who scored a total of 44 in 2019-20
Several thousand Argentinians are expected to descend on Qatar for the tournament starting next month but not all are having an easy ride.
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