Features

Messi the next new Maradona

Author: Lynda Collins
Date: 31/03/2010
Football betting

Lionel Messi's Barcelona team-mate Pedro Rodriguez believes the Argentina international is better than Diego Maradona.

The 22-year-old has scored an astonishing 11 goals in his last five matches, grabbing a hat-trick in Sunday's 4-2 victory at Real Zaragoza.

Messi is undoubtedly one of the best players of his generation but is he really better than Maradona or will he eventually fade away like the following men who were at one time expected to step into the great man's shoes?

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Ariel Ortega

The first 'next Maradona' had the skill and talent but his temperament ultimately let him down.

He had spells with Valencia, Sampdoria, Parma and Fenerbahce and represented Argentina on 97 occasions but will probably be best remembered for head-butting Edwin van der Sar at the 1998 World Cup.

He battled alcoholism throughout his career and never lived up to the hype of his early playing days.

Pablo Aimar

Maradona himself claimed Aimar was his legitimate successor but, despite the career highs of winning the Spanish title with Valencia and reaching the Champions League Final with Los Che, his career has tailed off recently.

He also won the UEFA Cup with Valencia before suffering relegation with Real Zaragoza and is now with Benfica. Aimar also failed to make any real impact on the international stage.

Juan Roman Riquelme

Riquelme's early years were very similar to Maradona's. He was born into a family in poverty and made his name with Boca Juniors before finding fame and fortune in Europe.

However, his time with Barcelona was little short of disastrous and it wasn't until he moved to Villarreal that he really shone.

As Maradona had done with Napoli, Riquelme dragged an unfashionable club up by its boot-laces, guiding the Yellow Submarine to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

He fell out with then boss Manuel Pellegrini though and returned to Argentina with Boca, his talent never really being fully utilised.

Carlos Tevez

Maradona has described the feisty Manchester City player as "the Argentina prophet for the 21st century" and Tevez will be desperate to live up to all the hype in South Africa this summer.

His performances at the 2006 World Cup matched that of Argentina, who are one of the online favourites to win the trophy in July.

He was outstanding in the group stage, particularly in the 6-0 demolition of Serbia but faded as the team struggled to beat Mexico before losing to Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals.

His complicated transfers in the last four years, which have involved spells at West Ham United and Manchester United, have not helped his development although he has enjoyed a successful campaign with Manchester City.

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