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Kempes keeps his stance between Messi and Maradona

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During a brilliant week for Leo Messi, Mario Kempes kept his stance on the debate about who is better between him and Maradona. 

Mario Kempes lived during the Maradona days, he still chooses Diego between Messi and the late great Argentine. Back when he was still playing on the professional level, Kempes was one of the players who welcomed a young Maradona to the Argentina ranks. With Cesar Luis Menotti as the manager, they made some important achievements throughout the country’s golden football era. Kempes won the 1978 World Cup after Maradona was left out of the squad.

Once that happened, Diego reached the 1982 World Cup semifinals before playing two consecutive finals between 1986 and 1990. Needless to say, the impact Diego had on Argentina is still difficult to measure today. If you ask anyone from that country to choose between Diego and Messi, most of them will probably choose Maradona. Mario Kempes has the right idea about this but he might certainly be regarded as a controversial take. As you all know, Leo is beloved around the world. Whereas Maradona is mostly loved in his own country, especially by the older generations. 

Kempes chooses Diego over Leo. 

Even though Kempes loves Leo Messi, he is just choosing Maradona due to the vast history he made with the national team. The FC Barcelona legend just won the Copa America with his country last weekend. But Maradona won the World Cup in 1986 and also played the 1990 final in Italy. When asked about this, Kempes thinks there is no contest between the two legends. But if you ask anybody else, they will likely tell you that comparing both is not the smart thing to do.

One should enjoy what both of them have done in football, just like the other comparison with Cristiano Ronaldo. This is what Marca picked up from Kempes’ statements: “For Messi, the misfortune is that he was the replacement for Diego Maradona. And it is very difficult to overshadow Diego, with the idolatry that he has received around the world If [Messi] wants to be better than Maradona, he is not going to achieve it even if he wins four World Cups in a row. He still hasn’t won the World Cup. No matter how many [titles he] wins or what he wins, it can never be compared to what Diego did.”

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