We are scared of Messi. We think that the only way to stop him is breaking his leg!
— Sung-Ryoung Jung (South Korea National Team’s goalkeeper)
Football would not be beautiful if you couldn’t see Messi do crazy things. I want Messi to be always on the ball
— Diego Armando Maradona
I have no doubt that Messi is better. Cristiano is a fantastic footballer, but Leo’s better. He is undoubtedly the number one
— Xavi
Everything Messi does surprises me. Each training session is different. It’s amazing to watch him play, to train with him. Messi is an impressive guy. He shows it in every training session, at dinner, at meals.
— Carlos Tevez
Cesc has a place for Arsenal in his heart, but he has Barcelona in his blood. He will want to win the biggest prizes in football, and I expect him to do that at Barcelona. I don’t exactly know when that will be, but I expect him to be my Barcelona team-mate again at some point.
— Lionel Messi
I do not like it. I’m embarrassed that I get compared to Diego. It’s an offense [to him]
— Lionel Messi
If something would have happened to Messi in that match, I’d have been kicked — you can imagine where
— Diego Armando Maradona (to explain why he chose not to play Leo at the friendly game)
You don’t want to go out there and be messed up by Lionel Messi so you have to be ready for it.
— Joseph Yobo (Everton and Nigeria National Team player)
Messi is better than me at World Cup ‘86,
I thank God that Messi is Argentinian and I will thank God if he can make us world champions again.
We play the prettiest football, have the prettiest players, and Argentinian men also know how to treat their women.
— Leo Messi (When he was explaining why Cheryl Cole should support Argentina in the World Cup, instead of England via gigwise)
The best way of stopping Messi is hoping Guardiola rests him
— Joan Capdevila
He always wants to play, whether it’s the Champions League final or against a third-division side. He’s an amateur in this sense, he always wants to play.
— Pep Guardiola
