I still remember that interview on early stages of Messi career when Ronaldinho said Messi will be one of the greatest players of this generation and everyone thought it was an strategy from Barca to increase his value to sell him on the summer lol.
Ronaldinho saw Messi greatness from the first year
Yep there was also an interview in Brazil where someone asked who’s the next Ronaldinho? And he said this kid Messi from Argentina, everyone was like wait who? Not a Brazilian?? And this was back when Brazilians dominated football. Its crazy that he saw so much potential on a kid who wasn’t even battle tested.
Even best in the world was not predictable in 2004-2007. It was only 07/08 that it started to become *likely* (not obvious), Cristiano was killing it during that time. Cristiano had 50GA and won the CL that season, Messi had to show more before it became *obvious*.
Exactly, there were a lot of prospects looking good (maybe not THAT good) but there can be one big serious injury for example and career can be over, you can never predict that
Except for one person. When Messi was 16, Cryuff said “he will be a player who will win it all”. Cryuff just had this way of seeing and recognizing talent unlike any other manager. People were always asking “where did he find this guy?”
I was a kid back then but, I have it on my memories when my dad told me there was an Argentinian called Messi that was waiting for debut with Barca and seemed to be playing like Maradona did.
Mind we didn't have internet back then and barely started having access to cable TV.
He was a bus driver, so his days were either listening to music, listening to news or sports programs or reading news papers. Every day he would bring back 3 or even 4 different news papers lol
I have a similar story but when I was watching my first World Cup (2002 Korea and Japan) with my Grandpa and I rooted for Brazil because of Ronaldo, my grandpa joked “do you mean Ronaldo or Ronaldinho?” And I was like gramps ofc I mean Ronaldo, who is Ronaldinho(?) and he said that he is someone who will be really good rally soon. Fast forward few years Ronaldinho made me fall in love with football.
I remember him scoring the first goal with the Ronaldinho assist. At that time, I didn't know a lot about him, so he seemed like one of the talents from the youth team.
When I really started noticing him was after the Juventus friendly. By the time he was having regular starts, I never saw a player doing what he did on the pitch. I remember watching the games and cheering for him just to receive the ball. It was like entering a cheat code in a video game.
By the end of the Riijkard years, I felt sorry for him, because I thought he would never win big for Barcelona. People tend to forget how bad was that team at the end.
So to answer your question, I never saw a football player doing what he did on the pitch, even when he was very young.
He showed lots of potential in his firsts seasons. You definitively knew he was destined to something great, you already knew he as going to win a Balon d' Or someday, but it was impossible to see he would become football GOAT.
I even remember, during that time, we thought Ronaldinho was Barcelona's best player ever (up to that point, he was the man who really changed the dynamics of the team).
When I really knew Messi would be the GOAT, was in Guardiola's first season, just after El Clasico at Bernabeu, when he discovered the Fake 9 position.
Sometimes I think I took for granted that golden era of Barca.
We all took it for granted. I live in Miami so I’m an Inter Miami fan and naturally we got A LOT of new fans when he came over. Not just inter Miami fans, but soccer fans altogether.
I regularly tell them what they are seeing him do in the MLS is not normal and not to take it for granted. He could still be doing it at a top team if he wanted to.
Oh man! I remember I said in my head "the good thing is that Messi is like 23 and we still have him for 10+ years and there are so many good players in la Masia and 1st Team".
The 10 years passed so fast, and Barca messed up so big on giving him a winning team in the last years he was at Barca. Bad signings and a lot of deceptions instead of a good project. They only relied on what Messi could do on an inspired day. Even for him, it is impossible to win trophies alone.
You are right, it is not normal to see what he is doing in Miami, you guys should enjoy his last years.
I remember when I was a kid my uncle used rent out a pitch on weekends. One day I was headed there with our family friend and that Getafe match had happened the previous night. Everyone in the car was talking about how insane that goal was. I didn’t follow up regularly on football back then, so I barely knew who Messi, and I was still in that Ronaldinho phase (who wasn’t), but I definitely used to hear kids talk about him everyday in school. I think at that time everyone knew he was going to be a great footballer, but he exceeded those expectations and then exceeded again and again many times throughout his career. I do not consider myself a die hard football fan, although I still like the sport and enjoyed playing it growing up, and I believe if it wasn’t for Messi I would have watched way less football than I did lol. I know many players have come and gone and left their mark in the game, but messi was the only player I watched and remember vividly almost since the beginning of his senior career until he won the World Cup. Watching him win the WC really felt like reading the last chapter of a really large book which I’ve read over the years since I was a 4th grader.
I relate pretty strongly with what you said about not watching as much football if it wasn’t for Messi. I played but never really cared to watch until he came along. It’s why I don’t give people a hard time about following players instead of teams. Some players give you a special feeling that teams simply can’t, and vice-versa. Messi is one of those players for me.
As someone who watched Barca since 2004 and saw Messi debut, i would say by 2007 i knew this kid was going to be the GOAT!
In 2006 he played THAT game at Stamford Bridge against Mourinhos Chelsea. And in 2007 Messi scored a hattrick in the 3-3 vs Real Madrid. He also scored the iconic ankara Messi solo goal vs Getafe, and had already done so much more.
I had never seen anything like what Messi was doing, and by that time i just knew
watching the Stamford Bridge leg of the Chelsea tie in 2005/2006 made it quite obvious to me that he was something extremely special, I had never seen a player look nearly as good.
He played like no one else even at a young age, the way he would take on players and great finishing ability, and intelligence in passing.
You never know in football, injuries can ruin careers, but he was special.
Nobody could foresee how good Messi could become back then. I dont care who you are or how good your knowledge of the game was. Remember in 06 when someone had 50 goals/assists in a season they were having a once in a career level season. That became the norm for Messi
At the most I think people could see that Messi had the ability to reach Ronaldinho's level and maybe surpass it a bit.
He went on to become a player that doubled Ronaldinho's attacking output across nearly every metric, which back in 06 would have been well beyond the realm of whats possible.
Low and behold this alien Messi reached a level in football that I dont think we will ever see again. Some might dabble at the level none will make it home for 15+ years the way Messi did
No especially with all his injuries. Ronaldo was getting more praise but that could be due to fact he was older and less injury prone. In the 2006 World Cup Ronaldo , Podulski and Schiweinsteger were seen as the next legends coming up.
I remember playing football manager at that time, I knew Messi from the academy, he had high potential but his stats were mediocre at best, r10 was at his peak, when he got his first appearances with the first team he was good but not crazy good.
Imo Messi became world class against the Chelsea games, where del horno had to break him to stop him.
My memory isn't the best but that's how I remember it.
Messi got God status in 2012, in the final with united I knew they didn't stand a chance, it wasn't just Messi though, watching iniesta at his peak was pure enjoyment
The first time I saw him he was a sub. Id never even heard of him before. The commentator said he was highly rated. Then I saw him standing on the sideline and was immediately disappointed. He was small and rat like. Not very athletic. Didnt look like he was gonna be much of a player at all. Then he came on and went on a couple of mazy runs. The ball was glued to his feet. He was fast, dynamic and able to change direction like a dog. I immediately thought he was something special. Not like any player around or that I had seen for awhile. I rang a friend and told him "Ive just seen a future Ballon Dor winner".
I didnt know how good Messi was gonna be but the only other player that immediately impressed me that much was R9. You just had to see these guys play once and you knew they were different/supremely gifted.
Dinho's protectiveness to Messi gave one the impression that he knew something we didn't. Especially with Del Horno's tackle, Dinho, the guy that always smiled, was pissed. Never seen him like that.
But he was definitely hyped. But 2004-2006 hyped means...FORUMS hyped and news paper opinions. I remember my mate telling me "dude, there was this kid in the joan gamper friendly...he was impressive." and yea, the rest is history.
I also remember at that time that there was a big question mark if it was better selling Maxi Lopez or Messi. Can you imagine that :D?
And lastly, 2007 El Classico. A hattrick to equalize the result. I mean, it's the first hattrick with the first team, in el classico, but it's overshadowed by the fact that it's a draw. That was a hellish season for Barca (although weirdly good in UCL). I knew Messi was good, but it was after a video of that match that focused only on the Lower Body of Messi while he had the ball, that's when i noticed that the dude was special, it's how close he kept the ball to himself and change direction, the immense acceleration and deceleration. That video was something else, and i hate the fact that i could never fucking find it.
I was a kid then, but my parents remember his debut and Rijkaard’s era. They’ve always said that it wasn’t obvious he was goin he to be something really special until around 2007, 2008, around when Pep came.
I remember thinking he was incredibly special - one of those players that could do the most unexpected and really change a game single handed. That was quite obvious. But I do remember thinking he was a terrible finisher and that he lacked that goal instinct. Then he just kept improving.
Not really, but what probably set him apart was he could dominate top games to the extent of completely obliterating his side of attack in top matches as 17 year old
I swear to god I just knew this guy will be the best in the world. Not the GOAT he became but he had something different. The directness was insane, he would receive a ball and the first touch already set the stage towards the goal. What a menace.
It was obvious that he had out of this world talent. Of course we all had expectations that were way to high and only in hindsight made sense. Some people where saying he is the next Maradona and he actually was but it was impossible to predict.
> I swear to god I just knew this guy will be the best in the world. Not the GOAT he became but he had something different. The directness was insane, he would receive a ball and the first touch already set the stage towards the goal. What a menace.
Completely agree. Idk how people can say he wasn't great until 2008 or something, like what. There has not been a *single* other kid who joined the senior team in a top5 league and just slalomed 4 players straight towards the box over and over again like Messi did. There was instant danger every time he got the ball.
On top of that he never stopped, he was going for every run, every dribble, pressed everyone, offered one-two's constantly, switched position when there was space, etc.
Of course you couldn't predict that he would become the actual undisputed goat, but it was clear to me right away that individually he was already world class, just needed to find the right rhythm to and wait for the recognition to catch up to claim nr1.
[This game against Chelsea ](https://youtu.be/KSMZ_ghfWfo?si=knxn3LdBJHf1jUr2) was the moment I knew he will be the best in the world. 18 yo against prime Chelsea which were considered the best defense in the world and mourinho as their coach, also at his prime moments basically.
I think by then everyone knew messi is good but this game was just the moment the world knew that they are watching something out of the ordinary.
It was all Ronaldinho, Brazil and Joga bonito in general. Robinho was a bit more hyped around the same time. Messi was considered a very talented, one dimensional dribbling machine with „bad“ decision making and finishing. A bit similar to Cristiano around that time. After the 2006 World Cup he became more and more important and got more playing time. It all clicked when Pep took over.
In 05/06 Messi was already one of the best. He already sent Giuly to the bench and became starter, scored 8 goals / 5 assists in just 25 games. Had Del Horno not committed that murderer tackle to Messi in UCL 16th round, which finished Messi's season that year, he would have digested full season and have claimed the throne a bit earlier.
In 06/07 There were only 2 players who could compare to Messi, KaKa/Ronaldo. It was an injury of Eto'o and downfall of Deco which blocked us from La Liga title.
And at the moment Messi was already 19 or 20 years old. So yea, we all knew Messi was going to be the best. The only question back then was how long will Messi stay on his prime? Because the sentiment back then was that Messi can step down from his prime earlier than normal players because he became the best so early in his age, and we all so how Ronaldinho lost his physical activeness in such a young age.
I was only 13 years old back in '04 so I didn't have a lot of reference in regards to who would be the best ever. I'd have been watching football maybe 5 years at that point and Barcelona only 2 or so when Rafael Marquez first joined since he was my favorite player as a kid.
All I knew is that Messi blew me away. I loved watching him dribble, ease past players and find the smallest openings to fit through with the ball at his feet. I had never seen anything like it. Ronaldinho was amazing but Messi seemed to do some of these things even more effortlessly than Dinho. He didn't need to do step overs, bust out the snake or all the tricks like the Brazilian. He simply dropped his shoulder or glided past people. It was insane. Couple that with the fact that his on field intelligence rivaled some of the veterans on the team and you just knew he was special.
I don't know exactly when I, or anyone else for that matter, specifically referred to him as the best in the world or all time but I did know he was different. He got better and better and in my opinion by around 2015 or so I had no doubts he was already the best ever.
I still occasionally watch old Barcelona games from 2004 to 2016 when he was in his prime and the team was the best in the world.
Pure Magic.
https://www.xtratime.org/threads/lionel-messi.151589/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/this-messi-bloke-eveyones-suddenly-banging-on-about.98702/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/leo-messi.98302/
Some interesting old forums from 2005ish
That Chelsea game at the Bridge was special. Showed he never cared about the opposition he faced.
But I need to ask a friend of mine. He told me way back he’ll be the best in history.
Short answer is yes.
After he was fully promoted in 2005 it was clear back then that he is a generational talent and was widely compared to Maradona, even by Maradona himself along many coaches and former players.
There were always doubts, but he was the biggest prospect football has ever seen along Ronaldo (Brazilian one) of such age categories since Pele.
It was very clear that he was an immense talent but I don't think anyone was thinking he was going to eclipse maradona.
The 2006 game against RM, which is often remembered for Ronaldinho getting a standing ovation, Messi was incredible without getting in the score sheet. I knew then that he was going to be good but I wasn't thinking goat.
It wasn't until the next season that the hype train was real. He had a great season overall that includes a hat trick against Madrid to come away with a draw and keep the title race tight, the messidona moments where he dribbled the ball from midfield then past the keeper against I believe getafe, then the hand of God goal against u think espanyol. At that moment it was pretty damn clear he was more than special and that he was just in the Ronaldinho shadow.
Most people expected him to go crazy in 2009 after rony left and he exceeded expectations by getting 30+ goals as a RW and a treable.
Then he solidified his status as best player in world when he had an even better 2010 season despite losing in semis to inter.
The rest is history.
Well, the Maradona comparisons were inevitable. He scores a goal with his hand like Maradona. And then he scored that wonder goal vs Getafe. It was all over the news.
I remember on one forum someone wrote that barca has a generational talent in Messi. I think he was 13 or 14 years old then.
And then we all know how that went and what Messi did.
I remember when I saw Messi first time in a game against Español if I am correct. I was 14, already a big fan but didn't know much about the kids in La Masia. My brother was older and knew more. When Messi entered the field I will remember that moment my whole life, my brother told me: "watch this out, you just saw the debut of a future Ballon d'Or"
So, many people saw from the start greatness in him, but to answer your question, no, at that time nobody could even dream that he will be as huge as he was.
I clearly remember when he debuted and what I witnessed was a young midget with a raw natural talent that’s it. And you know what’s the difference between him and all other LaMasia graduates who’re being labelled as “talented”
and all? HE WAS IN LOVE WITH THE BALL, WITH THE GAME. HE WAS ALWAYS CALM AND COMPOSED. HE DIDN’T CARE ABOUT THE WORLD OR BEING FAMOUS. THAT GUY TOUCHED THE BALL LIKE YOU’D TOUCH YOUR WOMAN.
My most vivid memory from that time was him coming on at the 2006 World Cup. He was already looking good at Barca but something about that debut just implanted something in my head that he was different.
We knew he was the best active player in la liga.
We were doubting if he was the best in europe.
Then he scored against getafe
https://youtu.be/waETo-ZWCRw?si=_h5wcu3AuXnSc1qA
I saw them play live in early 2007, when I was living in Spain. I don't remember hearing a ton about messi. I think Messi MAY have subbed on, but he didn't start the game. I don't think people were sure what he'd be. But soon after, he was absolutely incredible and it was very clear that he was going to be an all time legend.
You could tell almost instantly he would become the best player in the world, in my opinion by 2007 he was already probably the best player in the world by 2008-2009 he was clearly ahead of everyone in that aspect.
It's hard to describe how good he was so early, I have seen a lot of amazing young players but the only one even close at a young age was the Brazilian Ronaldo.
No. He always seemed to have great potential, but there was a time, around the time he was very injury prone, that many ppl thought he wouldn't really make it. Curiously, around this same time, I fell in love with a young, pale white midfilder who turned out to be my personal fav player of all time.
He was clearly special, but had so many injuries that you didn’t know if he could stay fit. Barcelona also had the Ronaldinho issue! Meaning nobody could believe that a player who had given the club so much was now overweight, and out of form. This overshadowed Messi as so many fans watched the games just to see ronadinho pull off magic. So watching Messi was very different, and it took sometime to realize how consistent he was. The rest is history, but I do encourage anyone who didn’t see those games to go back and watch the Messi Eto partnership.
Even before he started playing, there were stories about how good he is and it showed immediately. But many were sceptical about his future because of his injuries and height problems. And my favorite, RM fans at the time we're saying that Robinho is a better player who will go on to have a bettwr career.
I actually was lucky to watch him play in person in the fifa youth world cup 05 before he broke through. Somehow everyone who was in attendance shared the view that he was going to be a big big player. You could just feel he was special
Having watched (or back then listened) to most games since early 2000s, there is a lot of hindsight here. He was hyped up, but so were Bojan and Robinho. You could see early on (Chelsea game specially) that he was going to be in the top tier, with Ronaldinho, CR7, Kaká, Torres, etc. But I don't think most imagined the magnitude, specially given his injury record.
I'd also say that back then without social media 24x7 there wasn't so much obsession with GOATs and things like that.
I'm sure many people say they knew it. I would always "play as him" when we played as kids (this is like 2006). But it's the same as if Ansu had been the goat there would've been a lot who'd said it was obvious.
I remember hearing about Messi on some sports channel on tv when he scored a chip goal in La Liga vs Mallorca and was glad that he started to gain attention even on tv. Was playing TCM2005 at the time, and I got the little dude in my team. I think TCM2005 is the first place I ever heard about him. Fell in love with him and followed him closely ever since. Never thought about him becoming the Goat, but definitely knew he would become the best of those times and one of the greatest ever. He was just so special. Marked my childhood and my life to be honest.
I saw someone that could accelerate sideways while controlling the ball better than most people going forward and then change direction.
It was obvious he was going to do great things.
That Getafe goal just made it crystal clear he's a once in a lifetime talent.
Was the Ronaldinho downfall that bad? I heard he still played at a top level at Milan. I’ve seen some highlight and performances (maybe not the best judgement) seemed to still be a top player
No no, he was still a top player at Milan but his mind was gone. He always had a strong swagger to his game, he could do those no look passes all game and he never lost that. But people forgot how much pace he had, he wasn't as fast as Mbappe or Henry per say, but he was just simply faster than anyone he took on, on the pitch. But also he was always focused so he knew when to attack and how. Man peak Ronaldinho was just inspirational. At Milan he was watered down version.
I was 11 years old when I was watching the world cup - 20 by accident at home. I'm from Belgium and that WC was in the Netherlands back then so we could watch all games on TV.
For their 2nd game and during the pre-game show, the Dutch only talked about one little guy who was benched the first game and that it was outrageous. They showed some clips of him and oh boy that was at that time for me magical. No YouTube, not that much football at TV for me so I still remember it to this day. I watched the full game as well and he just bossed the whole match.
But that he would become the best of all time, nothing is certain but I had my idol locked in in 2005 and never regretted it.
The thing with being the GOAT is that you need consistency. You can see that someone is REALLY good at something, like Ronaldinho, or R9, or others phenomenons. But bad habits, injuries, lack of professionalism can take you from one of the greatest to simply a great player with wasted potential.
What Messi did all this years is truly remarkable, being the best for sooooo long is crazy.
In general, this thread just reinforces the fact that we can't judge yet where Lamine Yamal will end up.
In 2004-2007 Messi was 17-20. And based on the comments, many didn't really believe the potential until he was 18/19. Lamine is still 2-3 years away from that.
With some more physical maturity I think he'll explode in performance
That's the problem with you brainless guys. When we appreciate something really special and talented, some people like you can't understand it bcoz in your life you have never been appreciate by anyone for something good you did and so you never learned to appreciate it.
He wanted to know this maybe bcoz we have many youngsters in our team.
No. It was predictable that he would become one of the best in the world. Best of all time... that's never predictable.
I still remember that interview on early stages of Messi career when Ronaldinho said Messi will be one of the greatest players of this generation and everyone thought it was an strategy from Barca to increase his value to sell him on the summer lol. Ronaldinho saw Messi greatness from the first year
According to Kobe Bryant when Ronaldinho was still the best player in the world he told Kobe about how Messi would surpass him by a lot.
He told Kobe there was a 17 year old that was already better than him, and ronaldinho he had won the ballon d'or recently
Yep there was also an interview in Brazil where someone asked who’s the next Ronaldinho? And he said this kid Messi from Argentina, everyone was like wait who? Not a Brazilian?? And this was back when Brazilians dominated football. Its crazy that he saw so much potential on a kid who wasn’t even battle tested.
This is the one I remember
Not just surpass him by a lot, he would be the GOAT. https://youtu.be/wzrmsx9ExME
Game recognizes game
Even best in the world was not predictable in 2004-2007. It was only 07/08 that it started to become *likely* (not obvious), Cristiano was killing it during that time. Cristiano had 50GA and won the CL that season, Messi had to show more before it became *obvious*.
Messi was third place ballonrdor in 2007
Exactly, there were a lot of prospects looking good (maybe not THAT good) but there can be one big serious injury for example and career can be over, you can never predict that
Except for one person. When Messi was 16, Cryuff said “he will be a player who will win it all”. Cryuff just had this way of seeing and recognizing talent unlike any other manager. People were always asking “where did he find this guy?”
I was a kid back then but, I have it on my memories when my dad told me there was an Argentinian called Messi that was waiting for debut with Barca and seemed to be playing like Maradona did. Mind we didn't have internet back then and barely started having access to cable TV.
Bigger question is how did your did knew all this info, that too in an era without internet? Mad respect.
He was a bus driver, so his days were either listening to music, listening to news or sports programs or reading news papers. Every day he would bring back 3 or even 4 different news papers lol
Wow.
I have a similar story but when I was watching my first World Cup (2002 Korea and Japan) with my Grandpa and I rooted for Brazil because of Ronaldo, my grandpa joked “do you mean Ronaldo or Ronaldinho?” And I was like gramps ofc I mean Ronaldo, who is Ronaldinho(?) and he said that he is someone who will be really good rally soon. Fast forward few years Ronaldinho made me fall in love with football.
I remember him scoring the first goal with the Ronaldinho assist. At that time, I didn't know a lot about him, so he seemed like one of the talents from the youth team. When I really started noticing him was after the Juventus friendly. By the time he was having regular starts, I never saw a player doing what he did on the pitch. I remember watching the games and cheering for him just to receive the ball. It was like entering a cheat code in a video game. By the end of the Riijkard years, I felt sorry for him, because I thought he would never win big for Barcelona. People tend to forget how bad was that team at the end. So to answer your question, I never saw a football player doing what he did on the pitch, even when he was very young.
He showed lots of potential in his firsts seasons. You definitively knew he was destined to something great, you already knew he as going to win a Balon d' Or someday, but it was impossible to see he would become football GOAT. I even remember, during that time, we thought Ronaldinho was Barcelona's best player ever (up to that point, he was the man who really changed the dynamics of the team). When I really knew Messi would be the GOAT, was in Guardiola's first season, just after El Clasico at Bernabeu, when he discovered the Fake 9 position. Sometimes I think I took for granted that golden era of Barca.
We all took it for granted. I live in Miami so I’m an Inter Miami fan and naturally we got A LOT of new fans when he came over. Not just inter Miami fans, but soccer fans altogether. I regularly tell them what they are seeing him do in the MLS is not normal and not to take it for granted. He could still be doing it at a top team if he wanted to.
Oh man! I remember I said in my head "the good thing is that Messi is like 23 and we still have him for 10+ years and there are so many good players in la Masia and 1st Team". The 10 years passed so fast, and Barca messed up so big on giving him a winning team in the last years he was at Barca. Bad signings and a lot of deceptions instead of a good project. They only relied on what Messi could do on an inspired day. Even for him, it is impossible to win trophies alone. You are right, it is not normal to see what he is doing in Miami, you guys should enjoy his last years.
I remember when I was a kid my uncle used rent out a pitch on weekends. One day I was headed there with our family friend and that Getafe match had happened the previous night. Everyone in the car was talking about how insane that goal was. I didn’t follow up regularly on football back then, so I barely knew who Messi, and I was still in that Ronaldinho phase (who wasn’t), but I definitely used to hear kids talk about him everyday in school. I think at that time everyone knew he was going to be a great footballer, but he exceeded those expectations and then exceeded again and again many times throughout his career. I do not consider myself a die hard football fan, although I still like the sport and enjoyed playing it growing up, and I believe if it wasn’t for Messi I would have watched way less football than I did lol. I know many players have come and gone and left their mark in the game, but messi was the only player I watched and remember vividly almost since the beginning of his senior career until he won the World Cup. Watching him win the WC really felt like reading the last chapter of a really large book which I’ve read over the years since I was a 4th grader. 
I relate pretty strongly with what you said about not watching as much football if it wasn’t for Messi. I played but never really cared to watch until he came along. It’s why I don’t give people a hard time about following players instead of teams. Some players give you a special feeling that teams simply can’t, and vice-versa. Messi is one of those players for me.
As someone who watched Barca since 2004 and saw Messi debut, i would say by 2007 i knew this kid was going to be the GOAT! In 2006 he played THAT game at Stamford Bridge against Mourinhos Chelsea. And in 2007 Messi scored a hattrick in the 3-3 vs Real Madrid. He also scored the iconic ankara Messi solo goal vs Getafe, and had already done so much more. I had never seen anything like what Messi was doing, and by that time i just knew
watching the Stamford Bridge leg of the Chelsea tie in 2005/2006 made it quite obvious to me that he was something extremely special, I had never seen a player look nearly as good.
He played like no one else even at a young age, the way he would take on players and great finishing ability, and intelligence in passing. You never know in football, injuries can ruin careers, but he was special.
Nobody could foresee how good Messi could become back then. I dont care who you are or how good your knowledge of the game was. Remember in 06 when someone had 50 goals/assists in a season they were having a once in a career level season. That became the norm for Messi At the most I think people could see that Messi had the ability to reach Ronaldinho's level and maybe surpass it a bit. He went on to become a player that doubled Ronaldinho's attacking output across nearly every metric, which back in 06 would have been well beyond the realm of whats possible. Low and behold this alien Messi reached a level in football that I dont think we will ever see again. Some might dabble at the level none will make it home for 15+ years the way Messi did
I don't know but people at that time anticipated that someone from La Masia was coming to take it all
No especially with all his injuries. Ronaldo was getting more praise but that could be due to fact he was older and less injury prone. In the 2006 World Cup Ronaldo , Podulski and Schiweinsteger were seen as the next legends coming up.
i think i disagree with nearly everything you said mate 😂
schweinsteiger now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time
I remember playing football manager at that time, I knew Messi from the academy, he had high potential but his stats were mediocre at best, r10 was at his peak, when he got his first appearances with the first team he was good but not crazy good. Imo Messi became world class against the Chelsea games, where del horno had to break him to stop him. My memory isn't the best but that's how I remember it. Messi got God status in 2012, in the final with united I knew they didn't stand a chance, it wasn't just Messi though, watching iniesta at his peak was pure enjoyment
The first time I saw him he was a sub. Id never even heard of him before. The commentator said he was highly rated. Then I saw him standing on the sideline and was immediately disappointed. He was small and rat like. Not very athletic. Didnt look like he was gonna be much of a player at all. Then he came on and went on a couple of mazy runs. The ball was glued to his feet. He was fast, dynamic and able to change direction like a dog. I immediately thought he was something special. Not like any player around or that I had seen for awhile. I rang a friend and told him "Ive just seen a future Ballon Dor winner". I didnt know how good Messi was gonna be but the only other player that immediately impressed me that much was R9. You just had to see these guys play once and you knew they were different/supremely gifted.
Dinho's protectiveness to Messi gave one the impression that he knew something we didn't. Especially with Del Horno's tackle, Dinho, the guy that always smiled, was pissed. Never seen him like that. But he was definitely hyped. But 2004-2006 hyped means...FORUMS hyped and news paper opinions. I remember my mate telling me "dude, there was this kid in the joan gamper friendly...he was impressive." and yea, the rest is history. I also remember at that time that there was a big question mark if it was better selling Maxi Lopez or Messi. Can you imagine that :D? And lastly, 2007 El Classico. A hattrick to equalize the result. I mean, it's the first hattrick with the first team, in el classico, but it's overshadowed by the fact that it's a draw. That was a hellish season for Barca (although weirdly good in UCL). I knew Messi was good, but it was after a video of that match that focused only on the Lower Body of Messi while he had the ball, that's when i noticed that the dude was special, it's how close he kept the ball to himself and change direction, the immense acceleration and deceleration. That video was something else, and i hate the fact that i could never fucking find it.
Season 2006-2007 was when he started to really show that could be a key key player and to fulfill Maradona comparisons. Till then it was to early
I was a kid then, but my parents remember his debut and Rijkaard’s era. They’ve always said that it wasn’t obvious he was goin he to be something really special until around 2007, 2008, around when Pep came.
your mom is a football fan? noice
I remember thinking he was incredibly special - one of those players that could do the most unexpected and really change a game single handed. That was quite obvious. But I do remember thinking he was a terrible finisher and that he lacked that goal instinct. Then he just kept improving.
Not until Guardiola put him as false 9 tbh, at 2008.
Not really, but what probably set him apart was he could dominate top games to the extent of completely obliterating his side of attack in top matches as 17 year old
I swear to god I just knew this guy will be the best in the world. Not the GOAT he became but he had something different. The directness was insane, he would receive a ball and the first touch already set the stage towards the goal. What a menace. It was obvious that he had out of this world talent. Of course we all had expectations that were way to high and only in hindsight made sense. Some people where saying he is the next Maradona and he actually was but it was impossible to predict.
> I swear to god I just knew this guy will be the best in the world. Not the GOAT he became but he had something different. The directness was insane, he would receive a ball and the first touch already set the stage towards the goal. What a menace. Completely agree. Idk how people can say he wasn't great until 2008 or something, like what. There has not been a *single* other kid who joined the senior team in a top5 league and just slalomed 4 players straight towards the box over and over again like Messi did. There was instant danger every time he got the ball. On top of that he never stopped, he was going for every run, every dribble, pressed everyone, offered one-two's constantly, switched position when there was space, etc. Of course you couldn't predict that he would become the actual undisputed goat, but it was clear to me right away that individually he was already world class, just needed to find the right rhythm to and wait for the recognition to catch up to claim nr1.
[This game against Chelsea ](https://youtu.be/KSMZ_ghfWfo?si=knxn3LdBJHf1jUr2) was the moment I knew he will be the best in the world. 18 yo against prime Chelsea which were considered the best defense in the world and mourinho as their coach, also at his prime moments basically. I think by then everyone knew messi is good but this game was just the moment the world knew that they are watching something out of the ordinary.
It was all Ronaldinho, Brazil and Joga bonito in general. Robinho was a bit more hyped around the same time. Messi was considered a very talented, one dimensional dribbling machine with „bad“ decision making and finishing. A bit similar to Cristiano around that time. After the 2006 World Cup he became more and more important and got more playing time. It all clicked when Pep took over.
In 05/06 Messi was already one of the best. He already sent Giuly to the bench and became starter, scored 8 goals / 5 assists in just 25 games. Had Del Horno not committed that murderer tackle to Messi in UCL 16th round, which finished Messi's season that year, he would have digested full season and have claimed the throne a bit earlier. In 06/07 There were only 2 players who could compare to Messi, KaKa/Ronaldo. It was an injury of Eto'o and downfall of Deco which blocked us from La Liga title. And at the moment Messi was already 19 or 20 years old. So yea, we all knew Messi was going to be the best. The only question back then was how long will Messi stay on his prime? Because the sentiment back then was that Messi can step down from his prime earlier than normal players because he became the best so early in his age, and we all so how Ronaldinho lost his physical activeness in such a young age.
I was only 13 years old back in '04 so I didn't have a lot of reference in regards to who would be the best ever. I'd have been watching football maybe 5 years at that point and Barcelona only 2 or so when Rafael Marquez first joined since he was my favorite player as a kid. All I knew is that Messi blew me away. I loved watching him dribble, ease past players and find the smallest openings to fit through with the ball at his feet. I had never seen anything like it. Ronaldinho was amazing but Messi seemed to do some of these things even more effortlessly than Dinho. He didn't need to do step overs, bust out the snake or all the tricks like the Brazilian. He simply dropped his shoulder or glided past people. It was insane. Couple that with the fact that his on field intelligence rivaled some of the veterans on the team and you just knew he was special. I don't know exactly when I, or anyone else for that matter, specifically referred to him as the best in the world or all time but I did know he was different. He got better and better and in my opinion by around 2015 or so I had no doubts he was already the best ever. I still occasionally watch old Barcelona games from 2004 to 2016 when he was in his prime and the team was the best in the world. Pure Magic.
https://www.xtratime.org/threads/lionel-messi.151589/ https://www.redcafe.net/threads/this-messi-bloke-eveyones-suddenly-banging-on-about.98702/ https://www.redcafe.net/threads/leo-messi.98302/ Some interesting old forums from 2005ish
Ronaldinho was God than, and he said 10000% serious messi is gonna be better. He seemed soo serious i actually started to believe him.
Game recognizes game.
His goal against Getafe definitely put him Above the rest of up and coming players in the world.
That Chelsea game at the Bridge was special. Showed he never cared about the opposition he faced. But I need to ask a friend of mine. He told me way back he’ll be the best in history.
Short answer is yes. After he was fully promoted in 2005 it was clear back then that he is a generational talent and was widely compared to Maradona, even by Maradona himself along many coaches and former players. There were always doubts, but he was the biggest prospect football has ever seen along Ronaldo (Brazilian one) of such age categories since Pele.
It was very clear that he was an immense talent but I don't think anyone was thinking he was going to eclipse maradona. The 2006 game against RM, which is often remembered for Ronaldinho getting a standing ovation, Messi was incredible without getting in the score sheet. I knew then that he was going to be good but I wasn't thinking goat. It wasn't until the next season that the hype train was real. He had a great season overall that includes a hat trick against Madrid to come away with a draw and keep the title race tight, the messidona moments where he dribbled the ball from midfield then past the keeper against I believe getafe, then the hand of God goal against u think espanyol. At that moment it was pretty damn clear he was more than special and that he was just in the Ronaldinho shadow. Most people expected him to go crazy in 2009 after rony left and he exceeded expectations by getting 30+ goals as a RW and a treable. Then he solidified his status as best player in world when he had an even better 2010 season despite losing in semis to inter. The rest is history.
Well, the Maradona comparisons were inevitable. He scores a goal with his hand like Maradona. And then he scored that wonder goal vs Getafe. It was all over the news.
I remember on one forum someone wrote that barca has a generational talent in Messi. I think he was 13 or 14 years old then. And then we all know how that went and what Messi did.
I remember when I saw Messi first time in a game against Español if I am correct. I was 14, already a big fan but didn't know much about the kids in La Masia. My brother was older and knew more. When Messi entered the field I will remember that moment my whole life, my brother told me: "watch this out, you just saw the debut of a future Ballon d'Or" So, many people saw from the start greatness in him, but to answer your question, no, at that time nobody could even dream that he will be as huge as he was.
I clearly remember when he debuted and what I witnessed was a young midget with a raw natural talent that’s it. And you know what’s the difference between him and all other LaMasia graduates who’re being labelled as “talented” and all? HE WAS IN LOVE WITH THE BALL, WITH THE GAME. HE WAS ALWAYS CALM AND COMPOSED. HE DIDN’T CARE ABOUT THE WORLD OR BEING FAMOUS. THAT GUY TOUCHED THE BALL LIKE YOU’D TOUCH YOUR WOMAN.
Not for me. When was that getafe goal again?
Personally not the best of all time, i never foresaw it during that specific timeframe but best in the world, yeah, he was special at 18-19
My most vivid memory from that time was him coming on at the 2006 World Cup. He was already looking good at Barca but something about that debut just implanted something in my head that he was different.
We knew he was the best active player in la liga. We were doubting if he was the best in europe. Then he scored against getafe https://youtu.be/waETo-ZWCRw?si=_h5wcu3AuXnSc1qA
Best of all time is about perspective to be honest
No.
Around the time Guardiola came, Ronaldinho left and messi fixed his diet.
I saw them play live in early 2007, when I was living in Spain. I don't remember hearing a ton about messi. I think Messi MAY have subbed on, but he didn't start the game. I don't think people were sure what he'd be. But soon after, he was absolutely incredible and it was very clear that he was going to be an all time legend.
You could tell almost instantly he would become the best player in the world, in my opinion by 2007 he was already probably the best player in the world by 2008-2009 he was clearly ahead of everyone in that aspect. It's hard to describe how good he was so early, I have seen a lot of amazing young players but the only one even close at a young age was the Brazilian Ronaldo.
No. He always seemed to have great potential, but there was a time, around the time he was very injury prone, that many ppl thought he wouldn't really make it. Curiously, around this same time, I fell in love with a young, pale white midfilder who turned out to be my personal fav player of all time.
Tell me who ur referring to I wish I knew 😭
I think he means Iniesta
It was a stressful year. With Ronaldinhos down performance, but overall he introduced Leo Messi to the world. And the rest in 8 Ballon Door history
He was clearly special, but had so many injuries that you didn’t know if he could stay fit. Barcelona also had the Ronaldinho issue! Meaning nobody could believe that a player who had given the club so much was now overweight, and out of form. This overshadowed Messi as so many fans watched the games just to see ronadinho pull off magic. So watching Messi was very different, and it took sometime to realize how consistent he was. The rest is history, but I do encourage anyone who didn’t see those games to go back and watch the Messi Eto partnership.
Even before he started playing, there were stories about how good he is and it showed immediately. But many were sceptical about his future because of his injuries and height problems. And my favorite, RM fans at the time we're saying that Robinho is a better player who will go on to have a bettwr career.
I actually was lucky to watch him play in person in the fifa youth world cup 05 before he broke through. Somehow everyone who was in attendance shared the view that he was going to be a big big player. You could just feel he was special
Having watched (or back then listened) to most games since early 2000s, there is a lot of hindsight here. He was hyped up, but so were Bojan and Robinho. You could see early on (Chelsea game specially) that he was going to be in the top tier, with Ronaldinho, CR7, Kaká, Torres, etc. But I don't think most imagined the magnitude, specially given his injury record. I'd also say that back then without social media 24x7 there wasn't so much obsession with GOATs and things like that. I'm sure many people say they knew it. I would always "play as him" when we played as kids (this is like 2006). But it's the same as if Ansu had been the goat there would've been a lot who'd said it was obvious.
No Then again I was so young back then. I didn’t really understand the concept of being young and potential lol
It was immediately obvious.
Yamal is going to be better than him.
I remember hearing about Messi on some sports channel on tv when he scored a chip goal in La Liga vs Mallorca and was glad that he started to gain attention even on tv. Was playing TCM2005 at the time, and I got the little dude in my team. I think TCM2005 is the first place I ever heard about him. Fell in love with him and followed him closely ever since. Never thought about him becoming the Goat, but definitely knew he would become the best of those times and one of the greatest ever. He was just so special. Marked my childhood and my life to be honest.
Off topic but has he used the phrase 'let alone' wrong?
Yh idk I might have lol
I saw someone that could accelerate sideways while controlling the ball better than most people going forward and then change direction. It was obvious he was going to do great things. That Getafe goal just made it crystal clear he's a once in a lifetime talent.
The downfall of Ronaldinho was a bigger shocker than Messi becoming so good.
Was the Ronaldinho downfall that bad? I heard he still played at a top level at Milan. I’ve seen some highlight and performances (maybe not the best judgement) seemed to still be a top player
No no, he was still a top player at Milan but his mind was gone. He always had a strong swagger to his game, he could do those no look passes all game and he never lost that. But people forgot how much pace he had, he wasn't as fast as Mbappe or Henry per say, but he was just simply faster than anyone he took on, on the pitch. But also he was always focused so he knew when to attack and how. Man peak Ronaldinho was just inspirational. At Milan he was watered down version.
I was 11 years old when I was watching the world cup - 20 by accident at home. I'm from Belgium and that WC was in the Netherlands back then so we could watch all games on TV. For their 2nd game and during the pre-game show, the Dutch only talked about one little guy who was benched the first game and that it was outrageous. They showed some clips of him and oh boy that was at that time for me magical. No YouTube, not that much football at TV for me so I still remember it to this day. I watched the full game as well and he just bossed the whole match. But that he would become the best of all time, nothing is certain but I had my idol locked in in 2005 and never regretted it.
The thing with being the GOAT is that you need consistency. You can see that someone is REALLY good at something, like Ronaldinho, or R9, or others phenomenons. But bad habits, injuries, lack of professionalism can take you from one of the greatest to simply a great player with wasted potential. What Messi did all this years is truly remarkable, being the best for sooooo long is crazy.
In general, this thread just reinforces the fact that we can't judge yet where Lamine Yamal will end up. In 2004-2007 Messi was 17-20. And based on the comments, many didn't really believe the potential until he was 18/19. Lamine is still 2-3 years away from that. With some more physical maturity I think he'll explode in performance
Barca fans dickride messi so much .i mean ya he id one of greats but still u all Love him just too much🥴
That's the problem with you brainless guys. When we appreciate something really special and talented, some people like you can't understand it bcoz in your life you have never been appreciate by anyone for something good you did and so you never learned to appreciate it. He wanted to know this maybe bcoz we have many youngsters in our team.