Kolkata: Argentine coach Alejandro Sabella Wednesday rated football magician Lionel Messi as a better soccer player than former English player David Beckham.
“While Beckham was one of the best, he had a very good free kick and shooting…. I don?t know if Messi has these as well as Beckham. But in other parts of the game, Messi is lot better,? said Sabella while reacting to the comparison between Beckham and Messi.
Argentine team visit Mother house
After their 1-0 win over Venezuela in a FIFA international friendly, Argentina players on Saturday paid homage to the Mother House, the headquarters of the Mother Teresa founded Missionaries of Charity, though their star striker Lionel Messi gave it a miss due to security concerns.
Messi, who was nearly mobbed even by security forces during the presentation ceremony last night, remained at the hotel and came along with the squad to the team’s practice session this evening.
Nicolás Burdisso, Jonás Gutiérrez, Mariano Andújar, Marcos Rojo, Federico Fernández and Estaban Andrada went to the Mother House this morning, an Argentinian journalist said.
“They spent more than half an hour as they went to the Mother’s tomb on the ground floor before heading to the chapel where the Mother used to attend prayers,” sources at the Missionaries of Charity said.
Confirming that Messi did not come, the source said, “the main person (Messi) did not come. But they came in quietly, and visited the usual places. They left silently, paying homage to the Mother. They also visited Mother’s room.”
Recipient of the Nobel Peace prize in 1979, Mother Teresa’s death anniversary is on September 5, the day Argentines are scheduled to fly to Dhaka for another friendly against Nigeria the next day.
Argentina’s legendary football player Diego Maradona too had visited the Mother House during his whirlwind tour with his girlfriend here about three years back.
The Lionel Messi-led Argentina team would stay in the city till Monday to fine-tune their preparation for their match against Nigeria in Dhaka Tuesday.
‘We had received a request from the Argentine team management that they want to lengthen their stay in Kolkata. They have liked the location of the hotel which is so close to the (Salt Lake) stadium which is their practice venue and where they also played Friday night,’ said event promoters Celebrity Management Group CEO Dharamdas Pandey.
He said the Argentines have also liked the practice venue. (Agencies)