Last night, Lionel Messi finally achieved his dream of leading his nation to the World Cup as Argentina won their third crown with a penalty shoot-out victory over France in one of the most memorable finals in the tournament's history.
After a thrilling 3-3 draw, Argentina were crowned champions of the world with a 4-2 penalty shootout win after Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni both missed from the spot. Messi netted twice, becoming the first player in history to score in every round of the tournament while Kylian Mbappe became the first scorer of a hat-trick since 1966.
Many have hailed Messi as the world's greatest footballer after adding the World Cup to his honours list, with the ongoing debate between him and Cristiano Ronaldo all but over for some.
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Messi has now scored 799 goals for club and country, an extraordinary achievement. After breaking through at Barcelona and instantly becoming a hit in Spain, many would have struggled to predict the success the forward has had.
However, back in 2010, Steven Gerrard went the complete opposite way to claim Joe Cole was better than Messi after the former Chelsea man joined his Liverpool side. The ex-England winger featured 281 times for the Blues, scoring 40 goals and assisting a further 43 before making the move to Anfield.
After finishing seventh in the Premier League the season before, Roy Hodgson marked his first transfer window with the additions of Cole, Raul Meireles, Milan Jovanovic and Danny Wilson. Following Cole's arrival, Gerrard insisted the midfielder was better than Messi - who had just contributed to more goals (47 goals and 12 assists) than games played.
"[Lionel] Messi can do some amazing things, but anything he can do Joe can do as well, if not better. He used to shock us in training by doing footy tricks with a golf ball that most players can't even do with a football. I really fancy Joe for the [player of the year] award this season."
However, Cole managed to score only five goals in the three years he spent in Merseyside. Messi has since gone on to break numerous records, win countless trophies and establish himself as one of the best ever.
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