This is really embarrassing, but I have a confession to make. For years I’ve used this space to hail Lionel Messi as the world’s best soccer player.
Consider this declaration I wrote in 2012: “He is, simply, the best soccer player of all time.”
I wasn’t alone in that assessment.
“For me,” former Barcelona teammate Isaac Cuenca said at the time, “he is the best ever.”
Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas, then with Barcelona, agreed. “We have never seen anyone like him,” he said.
And just last month Barcelona Coach Luis Enrique called Messi “the best player in the history of the game.