Is Maradona ‘Messing’ with Messi?

Messi's and Maradona's 'Hand of God'

Maradona hugs Messi after their win against Korean Republic

The King should be delighted and take pride in his best soldier. But unfortunately this case doesn’t apply for the Argentine squad – where the greatest player in football history and the greatest player of the times come together – Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.

On field, there are many things that unite both – the talent, the agility, instinct, and how they dribble past the defenders; one can draw lots of parallels here. In fact,we can see a carbon copy of Maradona in Messi. Strange it might seem, but there are more things other than their short stature that unites Messi and Maradona. In 2007, with disbelief in its eyes, the world watched Messi replicating Maradona’s ‘Goal of the Century’ against the Spanish club Getafe. Is it mere co-incidence or a miracle that the touches (13), duration (13 seconds), and the number of opponents (6) were identical to that of Maradona’s?