Apparently, a hat-trick for North Korea's under-19s against Australia is all it takes to be proclaimed the North Korean Lionel Messi. Jong Il-Gwan is known for his dribbling, shooting and, as shown in the video below, ability to take advantage of terrible goalkeeping. To be fair, considering we're never likely to see him outside of his home country, Il-Gwan could be as good as the Barcelona forward, we'll just never know...
Sasha Shadrin (The Russian Messi)
He's only six years old, but the success of one video on YouTube has seen Sasha Shadrin named the Motherland's Lionel Messi. According to his parents, Sasha trains five days a week then follows that by practising more with his father, an amateur football coach. Sasha's parents say they're prepared to move abroad to ensure he reaches his potential. Let the 'Welcome to Arsenal' comments on YouTube commence....
Nelson Bustamente (The Chilean Messi)
At the age of 12, Nelson Bustamente was spotted ball-juggling at traffic lights for spare change by his future agent, Rene Curaz. After becoming his representative, Curaz orchestrated a deal to move the talented youngster to Brescia in Italy, who, like Barcelona in the past, agreed to cover the huge huge cost of Bustamente's growth-hormone deficiency treatment. After making the move to Italy, the Chilean endured a tough time away from his parents, but things were looking up when he forced his way into Brescia's B team by the time he was 18. Despite his potential, Brescia soon relegated him to the bench, and little was heard of the player thereafter and it was presumed that he eventually left Brescia due to a lack of opportunities and money. New information came to light recently however, when a Chilean newspaper revealed that the youngster has now moved to the B team of rival Italian side Bologna, though it remains to be seen whether his complicated story has a happy ending, like the real Messi
Takefuso Kubo (The Japanese Messi)
If all goes to plan, the Japanese Messi should have a slightly easier career trajectory than the Chilean one. Takefuso Kubo was signed by FC Barcelona after he impressed during one of their training schools in Yokohama, becoming the first Japanese player to move to the club in the process. The wonderkid became an internet sensation after videos of him on YouTube went viral, and at the age of 11 he's already considered one of the biggest prospects of his age group in Barcelona's academy.
Youssef Msakni (The Tunisian Messi)
Tunisians are so confident in the talents of this forward that he's often referred to as 'Youssef Messi', though given the evidence, perhaps it's a bit premature. Youssef Messi has been linked with Arsenal in the past, and to be fair it's probably as close as Arsene Wenger will ever get to signing Lionel Messi. Some of his goals for Tunisia in the 2012 African Nations Cup were truly breathtaking, but he'll have to move to a bigger league before he can prove he's the real deal. Welcome to Arsenal...?
Tunisians are so confident in the talents of this forward that he's often referred to as 'Youssef Messi', though given the evidence, perhaps it's a bit premature. Youssef Messi has been linked with Arsenal in the past, and to be fair it's probably as close as Arsene Wenger will ever get to signing Lionel Messi. Some of his goals for Tunisia in the 2012 African Nations Cup were truly breathtaking, but he'll have to move to a bigger league before he can prove he's the real deal. Welcome to Arsenal...?
Lionel Messi (The Cameroonian Messi)
Imagine the delight on the faces of supporters of French Ligue 2 side Angers when the club announced that they were taking none other than Lionel Messi on trial. Now imagine the disappointment on those same faces when they discovered that the Lionel Messi their club were looking at was a 17-year-old Cameroonian at the start of his career, rather than a three time Ballon d'Or winner. Out of everyone on our list, this player is the only one who can truly claim to be the Lionel Messi of his respective country, because, well, that is his name. He's also the only one we couldn't find a video of. Try typing 'Lionel Messi' into YouTube in the hope of finding footage of the Cameroonian version instead of the Barcelona forward and you'll see what we mean.
Imagine the delight on the faces of supporters of French Ligue 2 side Angers when the club announced that they were taking none other than Lionel Messi on trial. Now imagine the disappointment on those same faces when they discovered that the Lionel Messi their club were looking at was a 17-year-old Cameroonian at the start of his career, rather than a three time Ballon d'Or winner. Out of everyone on our list, this player is the only one who can truly claim to be the Lionel Messi of his respective country, because, well, that is his name. He's also the only one we couldn't find a video of. Try typing 'Lionel Messi' into YouTube in the hope of finding footage of the Cameroonian version instead of the Barcelona forward and you'll see what we mean.
Youssef Msakni (The Tunisian Messi)
Tunisians are so confident in the talents of this forward that he's often referred to as 'Youssef Messi', though given the evidence, perhaps it's a bit premature. Youssef Messi has been linked with Arsenal in the past, and to be fair it's probably as close as Arsene Wenger will ever get to signing Lionel Messi. Some of his goals for Tunisia in the 2012 African Nations Cup were truly breathtaking, but he'll have to move to a bigger league before he can prove he's the real deal. Welcome to Arsenal...?
Tunisians are so confident in the talents of this forward that he's often referred to as 'Youssef Messi', though given the evidence, perhaps it's a bit premature. Youssef Messi has been linked with Arsenal in the past, and to be fair it's probably as close as Arsene Wenger will ever get to signing Lionel Messi. Some of his goals for Tunisia in the 2012 African Nations Cup were truly breathtaking, but he'll have to move to a bigger league before he can prove he's the real deal. Welcome to Arsenal...?
Bojan Krkic (The Spanish Messi)
Bojan Krkic scored over 800 goals in Barcelona's youth ranks, averaging around three goals per-game prior to making his full debut as a 17-year-old, so it's no wonder that so many people were excited about the young striker. His initial success as part of Barcelona's first team defied his young age, leading to claims that he was the 'Spanish Messi', and that he could even end up better than the Argentine. Though he occasionally shone under Pep Guardiola, a lack of game time combined with injury problems and low confidence led to the young forward being sold to Roma in 2011. Barcelona are committed to buying him back from the Italian side in 2013, but it's looking increasingly unlikely that Bojan will ever come close to Messi's level, let alone prove to be superior.
Bojan Krkic scored over 800 goals in Barcelona's youth ranks, averaging around three goals per-game prior to making his full debut as a 17-year-old, so it's no wonder that so many people were excited about the young striker. His initial success as part of Barcelona's first team defied his young age, leading to claims that he was the 'Spanish Messi', and that he could even end up better than the Argentine. Though he occasionally shone under Pep Guardiola, a lack of game time combined with injury problems and low confidence led to the young forward being sold to Roma in 2011. Barcelona are committed to buying him back from the Italian side in 2013, but it's looking increasingly unlikely that Bojan will ever come close to Messi's level, let alone prove to be superior.
Kai Fifield (The English Messi)
Seven-year-old Kai Fifield was taking part in a game of street football with some Catalan kids while on holiday in Barcelona, when his father was approached by one of the onlookers. As it turned out, the man was scouting for FC Barcelona, and after some discussion it was agreed that Fifield's dad would re-book his flight home to enable his son to take part in a trial the following day. Kai's performance in the trial was described as 'very, very good', but to date neither FC Barcelona nor Kai's father have commented on whether the outcome was a success or not. In any case, he still has plenty of time to improve.
Seven-year-old Kai Fifield was taking part in a game of street football with some Catalan kids while on holiday in Barcelona, when his father was approached by one of the onlookers. As it turned out, the man was scouting for FC Barcelona, and after some discussion it was agreed that Fifield's dad would re-book his flight home to enable his son to take part in a trial the following day. Kai's performance in the trial was described as 'very, very good', but to date neither FC Barcelona nor Kai's father have commented on whether the outcome was a success or not. In any case, he still has plenty of time to improve.
FOR MORE ABOUT THESE BOYS,WIKIPEDIA AND YOUTUBE WILL DO THE JOB!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment