Since winning his 8th Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi has been garnering praise from revered names. One of them was Zinedine Zidane himself. Days later, the Argentine World Cup winner is in the limelight again. Messi’s ability to pick out an unexpected pass was highly spoken about. Mainly because that play, which seemed bizarre at first, would turn up in the back of the net.

These comments by ESPN’s Steve Nicol were an extension of Zidane’s statements about ‘being ahead’ of everyone else. Let’s dive deeper.

Messi’s ability to read the game garners immense praise again!

The interview of Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane immediately started trending. The Frenchman pointed out the ‘3-second’ gap between Messi and any other player. He said, “You see things before anyone else. I was one second ahead of the rest, you are 3 seconds ahead of the rest. And therefore, for me, that’s what makes you different from the rest of the players.

Days after that came Steve Nicol’s praise of Lionel Messi. The ex-Liverpool defender said, “I think people like Messi, not only do they know what their own players are going to do but they’re actually figuring out, who the defender is what he normally does what’s he going to do”. The pundit also spoke about how the soccer veteran impressed with his brilliant passing for Inter Miami.

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Nicol stated one of Messi’s debut MLS goals as an example. The Argentine had started the move with an insane defense-splitting pass and then finished it with ease. Explaining that move, he said, “He played this incredible ball from the top of the penalty box in behind the left back and it just didn’t look on but it was it went inside the fullback somebody came running around he went for the return and put it’s in the back of the net”.

The comments indicate that the Argentinian is weirdly not getting older in terms of his age. It feels that he is still the same player from his younger days who cannot stop scoring for club and country. Does that make the 2026 World Cup a real possibility for the Inter Miami star?

Will Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo still be around for one last FIFA World Cup?

After the end of the World Cup in Qatar, reports indicated that both Messi and Ronaldo would retire. However, none of them have made any comments officially. It looks like the situation is starting to change slowly. Lionel Messi is not showing any signs of slowing down. In just 14 games for Inter Miami, the legendary winger has already scored 11 goals and 5 assists.

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On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored over 40 goals this year with Al Nassr and Portugal after a disappointing World Cup campaign. Interestingly, he might also extend his club contract till 2027. This clearly indicates that Ronaldo is not retiring before the World Cup in 2026.

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