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| India4u News | |
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Sports News
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by_emR3 SaVSaK.CoM
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Posted online: Thursday, June 22, 2006 at 12:41:56 PM
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Lionel Messi has "Mano de Dios" (Hand of God) printed on his white football boots. No prizes for guessing to whom he's paying tribute.
The youngster may have disappointed football's most demanding critics in the match against Netherlands in Frankfurt Wednesday, but Diego Maradona must surely have been impressed by the player many tout as his most worthy successor.
Four days after scoring his first World Cup goal in Argentina's 6-0 drubbing of Serbia and Montenegro, coming off the bench with just 16 minutes to go, Messi played his first World Cup match from the start against the Netherlands.
He didn't score, he wasn't named man of the match and was even substituted in the 68th minute.
But the number 19 shirt nevertheless added touches of genuine class to an otherwise lacklustre 0-0 draw, often whizzing around Holland's tall defenders and creating at least a couple of goal-scoring chances.
Messi turns 19 on Saturday, the day Argentina are due to play Mexico in the round of 16.
But coach Jose Pekerman was not offering a place in the starting line-up as a birthday present just yet.
"We are just going to have to wait and see. It took me a few days to decide who would play today, and we must also take Mexico into account when we decide our line-up," Pekerman told reporters when asked whether Messi would play again against Mexico.
Born in Rosario, a city some 300 km north of the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, Messi started playing football for his home town club, Newell's Old Boys, when he was not yet a teenager.
At 11 he suffered from a hormone deficiency, and his parents decided to move to Spain because they could not afford to pay for his treatment in Argentina. He tried his luck with Barcelona and was immediately offered a place with the "B" team.
He scored his first goal in the Spanish Liga at 17.
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