messi played for barcelona in the world cup.
who does messi play for in the world cup?
barcelona
a prodigious talent as a teenager, messi established himself among the world's best players before age 20. diego maradona considered the 18-year-old messi the best player in the world alongside ronaldinho, while the brazilian himself, shortly after winning the ballon d'or, commented, "i'm not even the best at barça," in reference to his protégé. four years later, after messi had won his first ballon d'or by a record margin, the public debate regarding his qualities as a player moved beyond his status in contemporary football to the possibility that he was the greatest player in history. an early proponent was his then-manager pep guardiola, who, as early as august 2009, declared messi to be the best player he had ever seen. in the following years, this opinion gained greater acceptance among pundits, managers, former and current players, and by the end of barça's second treble-winning season, messi's superiority, ahead of maradona and pelé, had become the predominant view among insiders in continental europe. a frequent dismissal, however, has centred on the fact that messi has not won the fifa world cup with argentina, leading some in the sport to instead cite him as the best club player in history.throughout his career, messi has been compared with his compatriot diego maradona, due to their similar playing styles as diminutive, left-footed dribblers. initially, he was merely one of many young argentine players, including his boyhood idol pablo aimar, to receive the "new maradona" moniker, but as his career progressed, messi proved his similarity beyond all previous contenders, establishing himself as the greatest player argentina had produced since maradona. jorge valdano, who won the 1986 world cup alongside maradona, said in october 2013, "messi is maradona every day. for the last five years, messi has been the maradona of the world cup in mexico." césar menotti, who as manager orchestrated their 1978 world cup victory, echoed this sentiment when he opined that messi plays "at the level of the best maradona". other notable argentines in the sport, such as osvaldo ardiles, javier zanetti, and diego simeone, have expressed their belief that messi has overtaken maradona as the best player in history.
lionel messi
however, it is widely argued and documented that there's an atmosphere of tension between the duo, with guillem balagué claiming in "messi" that ronaldo refers to his argentine counterpart as "motherfucker" behind his back, and luca caioli saying in his book, "ronaldo: the obsession for perfection", that according to his sources, ronaldo heats up when watching messi play. in response to claims that he and messi do not get on well on a personal level, ronaldo commented: "we don't have a relationship outside the world of football, just as we don't with a lot of other players", before adding that in years to come he hopes they can laugh about it together, stating: "we have to look on this rivalry with a positive spirit, because it's a good thing". on 13 november 2014, ronaldo also threatened to take legal action over the remarks made by balagué.
ronaldo–messi rivalry