By TonyeBarcanista

1. CRITICS said Messi was nothing without Ronaldinho, Deco and Etoo.

FACT: All three players left and Messi peaked even at their absence winning uncountable team and individual honors

2. CRITICS changed narrative to say Messi is benefitting from the geniuses of Xavi and Iniesta at Barca..

FACT: Xavi left Barca, Iniesta also left yet Messi keep blazing, winning trophies awards.

3. They said Messi is a one club hero, asking him to emulate Ronaldo by changing clubs to prove that he is indeed a great player…

FACT: Ronaldo left Manchester United(Man U) to join Real Madrid(RM) because RM is a far bigger club to Man U. Ronaldo left RM to Juventus because he was unhappy with RM hierarchy and the way he was treated in 2018 by the club’s President.

On the other hand Messi is a Barcelona product and Barcelona is a far greater club to any other team in the world (argue with Barcanista). In addition, Messi is in great shape at Barca and Barca love him.

Beside, Nikolas Anelka is one of the most “travelled” player in Europe but no one is calling him G.O.A.T for his football tourism.

4: CRITICS said Messi should go to another league to win trophy to prove his status

FACT: Messi doesn’t need to go to any league to prove himself, he has played all top teams from each top leagues in Europe and demolished them… Neymar has won league trophies with Barcelona (Spain), PSG (France) and Santos (Brazil – where he also won South America champions league), yet no one is saying he is GOAT.

5. CRITICS said Messi should win trophy for his country to be considered G.O.A.T

FACT: Messi led his country to youth world cup triumph, he led his country’s men team to Olympic Gold in 2008. He further led his country to Copa America final twice in 2015 and 2016 where they lost via penalty shootout (game of luck). The biggest of all, he led his country to World Cup final in 2014 (where they narrowly lost at extra time) and was crowned MVP for all the aforementioned tournaments.

MORE FACTS:
1. Messi has more goals than all his teammates and former teammates in Barcelona and Argentina

2. Messi has more assist than all his teammates and former teammates in Barcelona and Argentina

3. Argentina is a semi average team without Messi but a team “to beat” with Messi in it.

4. Take Messi out of Barcelona and Barcelona will struggle to win games.

AS FOR FIFA AWARD 2019
Critics claim Messi is undeserving of FIFA Award 2019 but who deserves it more than the man that achieved the following in 2019…

1. Top Scorer in Europe 2018/19 (European Golden Boot)

2. Top scorer in UEFA Champions League 2018/2019

3. Joint Most Goal Assist in Europe 2018/2019

4. Most Man of the Match won in 2018/2019 UEFA Champions league

5. Most player of the Week won in 2018/2019 UEFA Champions league

6. Best Forward in Europe 2018/19

I don’t even want to mention domestic individual honors he got but critics can’t give us any individual player with a stat to match Messi in 2018/19.

The summary of this epistle is that Lionel Messi is the GREATEST SPORTSMAN OF ALL TIME… This is a fact that even his critics know but ashamed to publicly admit.