by Reg » Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:25 pm
World Cup Diary: Messi is another top gun who fired blanks - 05/07/10By Mon Jul 05 12:15:39 BST 2010
SOUTH Africa is clearly no place for the megastar footballing maestro.
World player-of-the-year Lionel Messi became the latest supreme talent to head home having left the football universe thoroughly underwhelmed.
The Argentine wizard might not have slumped to Wayne Rooney levels of under-performance, but he is another headline act to have failed to find the net at the World Cup.
Messi waved goodbye by continually running down dead-ends as a brilliant Germany team overwhelmed Argentina on Saturday.
Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo – two men to have held world player status before Messi – have also gone home with their heads held less than high.
The big stage has not been blessed with big performances from them, unless you count giving North Korea the runaround. I could have done that from this very sofa.
It was impossible to work out what all the fuss is about where Frenchman Franck Ribery is concerned, Didier Drogba didn’t deliver either and Spain look a better side without Fernando Torres.
They must surely take the radical decision of dropping him when they face the Germans tomorrow. Yes, it’s a bold move, but is also a necessary one.
Vicente Del Bosque’s boys are making a habit of coming on strong in games – after the mis-firing Liverpool frontman has been replaced.
Whether it is the formidable physical presence of Fernando Llorente, the extra midfield guile of Cesc Fabregas or the dangerous creativity of Pedro, the European champions are currently a better side without Torres.
I’m just thankful for David Villa. At least one top talent has had a terrific tournament (except for one penalty).
The Argentine legend admitted he felt like he had been ‘kicked in the face’ after seeing his side sliced apart by brilliant Germany. I suspected he had merely ‘hit the bottle’ given some of his decision-making.
His selection of Maxi Rodriguez (a flop at Liverpool in the second half of last season) over the wily international veteran Juan Sebastian Veron was mind-boggling while he drafted in a complete disaster of a defender in Nicolas Otamendi.
Argentina boast the richest array of attacking talent in world football, but on Saturday possessed no-one capable of providing the ammunition or service.
Germany, on the other hand, manage to create and convert chances at will. Any suggestions that their second-round slaughter of England was a flash in the pan were dismissed by 90 vintage minutes of football.
AT least Maradona is not the most hated man in football anymore – that honour now seems to be held by Luis Suarez.
The Uruguayan striker will, according to my weekend reading material, be vilified right across the world after becoming the new Hand of God. He will have to live with being the cheat who scuppered a footballing fairytale for Ghana.
Come off it. Suarez did what he had to do on Friday night – he took one for the team.
He gave his country a chance of reaching the World Cup semi-finals. Whether it was instinctive or intentional, Suarez was in the right place at the right time.
Ghana defender John Pantsil claimed that had the incident happened at the other end, he or his team-mates would not have handled.
Pull the other one, pal. Every single person put in that position would have done exactly what Suarez did.
But for his handy intervention, all four South American sides still involved would have tumbled out in the last eight.
Now there is no doubt about the dominant continent in South Africa. Three European semi-finalists remain, two European finalists will soon be revealed, one European winner will lift the trophy on Sunday.
sore loser bástard 
Without him villa wouldn't have scored the goal nuff said
