Argentineans have long been engaged in the debate as to who\u2019s the better Argentine player – Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona \u2013 and the controversy continues to rage on regarding which among the two is the best to lace up a pair of boots for the football-crazy South American nation.<\/p>\n
Hoping to provide a outsider\u2019s perspective, former Paraguayan goalkeeper Jos\u00e9 Luis Chilavert has weighed in on the issue in an interview with TyC Sports<\/em> (via Marca<\/em>) ahead of Argentina\u2019s FIFA World Cup Qualifying fixture against Paraguay.<\/p>\n The 56-year-old gave his views on the differences between the two players and opined that Messi would be his pick were he to choose one.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce I told a colleague of yours who asked me if I would stop Messi in a heads-up, and I said yes, I would stop everything. The journalist asked me how I would do it and I answered \u2013\u00a0\u2018Control\u2026 I have it from the Playstation, I stop it when I want. It is the only way to stop Lionel!\u2019\u201d\u00a0Chilavert said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Argentina, many put that Maradona is better than Messi,\u00a0for me Maradona was predictable and Messi is unpredictable. That is the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Chilavert also elaborated further on what demarcated Messi from the likes of Maradona, citing that the ball seems to be glued to the 34-year-old\u2019s foot and adds that Messi\u2019s free-kick abilities in the ways he executes them is something highly laudable.<\/p>\n \u201cLionel has the ball tied to his foot, he plays so naturally and if he faces you hand in hand you don\u2019t know whether to run away to reduce him or stay because you know that there is always a new technique to what a normal player is. It is very difficult, for example in the free throws that he executes with such precision at the angles that I want to applaud him,\u201d\u00a0Chilavert said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen\u00a0Messi\u00a0is going to take a free-kick, I have to try to guess it to get there, but when\u00a0Maradona\u00a0kicked them, for example when I had to face him with V\u00e9lez and that famous free-kick outside the barrier, I already knew that he was going to hit the outside because of how it stopped. Then I fly and get it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, Maradona diehards would argue passionately that the former Argentine great has a FIFA World Cup, one which Messi has yet to win, which he possibly has a chance to win next year in Qatar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"