The Brazilian full-back was part of Real Madrid while another Argentine sensation was emerging at Barcelona. Although Carlos left Spain in 2007, he had ample opportunity to witness Messi’s burgeoning talent during his time there.
Messi didn’t become a prolific force for Barcelona until the 2008-09 season, when he first surpassed 30 goals in a single campaign. However, even before that, Carlos, alongside World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro, had already recognized Messi’s potential to become the world’s best player.
In an interview with 90min, Madrid legend Carlos recounted his limited encounters with the elusive Messi: “When Messi dribbled past Cannavaro and me and ran over us and the match ended, I turned to Cannavaro and said: ‘My God, who is this player? He’s the new Maradona.’ I’m lucky, I didn’t have much time left before I retired, how would the next generation of defenders cope? They’ll really struggle with him. I knew he’d be the best player in the world. In the future, he would win everything and I’m happy because I watched him more than I played against him.”
Messi faced Cannavaro and Carlos in a 2006 match at the Bernabeu, which Real Madrid won 2-0. Despite the loss, Messi caused significant problems, foreshadowing his rise to the top of many greatest-of-all-time lists.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
This season he played in total 12 times for 1034 minutes for Major League Soccer.
Lionel Messi scored 12 goals for Inter Miami. He procured 10 assists. He received no yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 1st in Major League Soccer. In the last match Inter Miami won 2-1 against Chicago Fire.
Inter Miami performance and stats
Inter Miami is currently 1st in the Major League Soccer with 53 points.
In the last 25 games, it has won 16 times, drawn 5 times, and lost 4 times. In its last match, Inter Miami won 2-1 against Chicago Fire.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 56 goals and conceding 39.
Inter Miami will play the next match in Major League Soccer against Cincinnati on Saturday 24th of August in Fort Lauderdale.