Past The 'Keeper

The nay-sayers have said that Lionel Messi doesn’t perform for Argentina the way he does for FC Barcelona.

He did more than quiet them in an international friendly match against the United States.

His Argentina side was rewarded with a goal in the 41st minute after Esteban Cambiasso finished a play set up by Messi after the “little lion” skillfully beat numerous defenders and played the ball across the goal mouth  for Cambiasso to put away.

And the way Messi squeezed through tight gaps in the American defense, weaved his way around multiple players, and roamed all over the field in the first half reminded everyone of the way he plays at Barcelona.

No one could deny that.

The second half, unfortunately, was  a different story.

The Argentinians looked like a different team, losing their sharpness and allowing the Americans to get comfortable playing and eventually — after a horrendous drop by Argentina’s goalkeeper — USA scored when New York Red Bulls‘ 18-year old Juan Agudelo tapped the ball past the fallen goalie to tie the score at 1-1.

Argentina was never able to get another goal and USA came away with a happy draw, but the Argentinians were left confused, wondering why the score wasn’t more like 5-0 instead of 1-1 in the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90bUC6Eh0Oc&feature=fvstIt seems so easy for someone so small.

Lionel Messi can’t stop. He won the Footballer of the Year award a few weeks ago and then went to score a hat trick against Atletico Madrid just the other day. Like it was no big deal.

By way of the three goals, he jumped over Cristiano Ronaldo as the top goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga with 24 goals, 2 more than Ronaldo — in 2 fewer games.

In an amazing run by the little Argentine, Messi has scored an amazing 40 goals in 33 games — nearing his already-amazing total of 47 goals in 53 matches last season.

Wow. Words cannot even describe the tear that he is on.

He isn’t be a “pretty boy” like Ronaldo and crave the attention that Ronaldo needs. Messi just steps on the field and turns it into magic without caring about anything else. Of course, he struggled in the 2010 World Cup with his country, Argentina. He didn’t have the same support that his FC Barcelona teammates give and so he didn’t shine the way he was expected to shine.

But with Barca, he is able to create things and beat defenders in ways that do not seem real to the naked eye. He has a great supporting cast, as the attacking combo of Messi, Pedro and David Villa have scored 50 goals in La Liga so far this season.

And get ready for this:

That 50-goal total surpasses the total of any other team in the Spanish league this season.

After watching Messi sprint past his defenders, your jaw will drop in awe and amazement at what this little 5-foot-nothing (OK, 5’6” to be exact) footballer does. He will beat 5 defenders in a full sprint up field and before you know it, he could be back in his defensive end tackling the other team’s forward before he gets a shot off. It is absolutely incredible.

 Messi slithers past defenders, leaving them literally running into each other as they are blinded by the trail he leaves. The Barcelona fans bow down to him every time he scores, as he is looked upon as a near-God.

If he is not a God, he definitely has a bid in the “Soccer God” voting for me.