Once is chance, Twice a coincidence, Three times ...

is a pattern. Well about a month ago Lionel Messi scored a goal which looked remarkably similar (some said eerily) to a goal that Diego Maradona scored at the 1986 World Cup. Alot of goals look similar so what's the big deal? Well Messi is the twenty year old, Argentine phenom that plays with Ronaldhino at Barcelona. The Argentine media was quick to pronounce him the "New Maradona". Diego Maradona is an Argentine soccer legend that played in four World Cups and received the FIFA award for best footballer of the 20th century. Here are the goals side by side:

So why am I posting this a month late? Last week Messi scores another goal remarkably similar (some said freakishly) to a goal that Diego Maradona scored at the 1986 World Cup.Here are the goals:


So, twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern. The scary thing is that three times is also a charm (you know, Beetlejuice,Beetlejuice,Beetlejuice). Let's hope that Messi doesn't mimic Maradona's off field life which is full of substance and alchohol abuse. But it will be intriguing to see if Messi becomes FIFA's footballer of the 21st Century.