By Godwin Akpodonor
Former Green Eagles captain, Chief Segun Odegbami has described Argentina playmaker, Lionel Messi, as the laziest player at the just concluded Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Argentina won the World Cup, beating the defending champions, France 4-2 on penalties after the game ended 3-3 at regulation time.
Odegbami, who is popularly called Mathematical, said in his weekly column to The Guardian yesterday that Messi strolled through most matches.
“Messi is deadliest player with the ball at his feet, but must have covered the least distance of all the players in the finals,” Odegbami said. “He strolled through most matches, only turning on his magic when the ball arrives at his lethal feet. His brilliance and touches were more than enough ‘compensation’ for his ‘laziness’.
Odegbami, a member of the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winning squad continues: “If he was not ‘Messi’, the god, no coach under the sun would tolerate his attitude during a match.”
The former IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan top scorer picked French player, Kylian Mbappe as the most exciting player at Qatar 2022 World Cup.
“Every time Mbappe got the ball, there was expectation of something spectacular to come from his shuffles, amazing burst of speed and shooting prowess even from a standing position.”
