Friday (December 13): Lionel Messi is in the same league as Pele or Diego Maradona and he doesn’t need to win a World Cup to prove his greatness, thinks iconic former Argentine striker Hernan Crespo.
Argentine said: “Messi doesn’t need that (to win a World Cup to be great player). In the whole history, I can think of five players – Pele, (Alfredo) di Stefano, (Johan) Cruyff, (Diego) Maradona and then there is Messi.”
He however hoped that Messi gets to finally lift the World Cup in Qatar 2022 even though it will be incredibly tough.
“I hope (Messi wins the World Cup in 2022). It will be very hard. This is really our dream, I hope he tries again. The first one is Copa America which we are hosting and Colombia and we have a good chance to lift the Copa America.”
For 44-year-old Crespo, Messi alongside Maradona belong to a “different planet” but when it comes to goal poaching abilities, the best Argentina had is undoubtedly Gabriel Batistuta.
“Mario Kempes (1978 Golden Boot winner) was also special for us, then Batistuta. Lot of great strikers. Diego is from another planet. There will be Messi with Diego. Batistuta is the best striker ever in Argentina. Messi somewhere nearer.”
Crespo scored nearly 250 goals in his senior career (club and international) spanning over 19 years.
At the international level, Crespo scored 35 goals and is fourth-highest in the list behind Sergio Ag ero, Batistuta and Lionel Messi.
