ARGENTINA'S LIONEL MESSI IS THE REAL DEAL

By John F. Molinaro

Argentine sensation Lionel Messi sure knows how to make an entrance.

The 18-year-old midfielder, who has been dubbed the 'Argentine Wayne Rooney', was pegged as one of the youngsters that would break out as the next big star at the World Cup before a ball was even kicked.

It looked as though fans would be denied that chance to see Argentina's wunderkind in action in Germany, though, as a nagging thigh injury threatened his participation.

The teenager overcame his injury woes, however, and made a sensational World Cup debut on Friday, proving to be well worth the wait and living up to his billing as the next messiah of Argentine soccer.

After missing Argentina's opening 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast - coach Jose Pekerman was still not convinced he was fully recovered from the injury - Messi took his World Cup bow in his country's 6-0 massacre of Serbia and Montenegro and left everyone breathless with his performance.

Coming on as a substitute late in the game, Messi cleverly outwitted the Serbian defence with his skill and pace to set up teammate Hernan Crespo to score Argentina's fourth goal a mere three minutes after he walked onto the field.

Ten minutes later it was Messi, set to turn 19 in one week, who drove the final nail in the coffin when he latched onto a pass from Carlos Tevez and sped into the box after leaving a Serb defender for dead and beat the goalkeeper with a shot at the near post.

There have been a slew of Argentine players who have been dubbed the next Diego Maradona, but Messi demonstrated to the Gelsenkirchen crowd and the television viewing audience around the world that he is the rightful heir to Argentina's famous No. 10.

Maradona, who was among those in attendance in Gelsenkirchen, stood up with a big grin on his face and fervently applauded Messi's entrance into the contest. He knew what was about to come and the havoc that the Argentine teenager was about to wreck on the Serbian defence.

Messi did not disappoint.

Such was the magnitude of his performance against the Serbs that despite barely being on the field for 15 minutes, Messi is already being touted as a potential winner of the best young player honour, a new award FIFA will hand out at the end of the tournament to the best player under the age of 21.

Against Serbia, Messi made history by becoming the youngest Argentine ever to play and score at the World Cup. His goal also made him the fourth-youngest scorer in the history of the tournament behind Pele (1958), Manuel Rosas (1930) and Michael Owen (1998).

Like Maradona, Messi is equal parts goal scorer and goal creator, a midfield wizard who combines speed, vision, a blistering shot, breathtaking passing and deft dribbling into a dangerous package.

It was last year that Messi followed in the footsteps of Maradona and led his country to victory at FIFA's World Youth Cup in the Netherlands, Argentina's fourth title in the last six tournaments. Not only did Messi finish as the tournament's top scorer with six goals, he was also the overwhelming choice as the competition's MVP.

Maradona led Argentina to glory at the 1979 tournament in Japan, a performance that helped launch his career into superstardom.

Messi is headed down the same path.

Not too many teenagers become a starter - and a big star - in their first full season with Spanish club FC Barcelona, but that's exactly what the teenager did this past year.

He played a pivotal role in helping the Catalan club with the Spanish league championship and Champions League title, but the victory was bittersweet - he missed the last few months of the season, and Barcelona's twin crowning as Spanish and European champions, due to injury.

He's not about to let that happen again, though. Messi wanted to get in on the action in Germany after missing Argentina's first game, and he showed that despite his age and lack of international experience, he's a player of unparalleled style and class.

Something Argentina's future opponents at the World Cup will soon learn to their peril.

John F. Molinaro is the editor of CBC Sports Online's 2006 World Cup website. John covered the 2002 World Cup, 2003 Champions League final and Euro 2004 for Sports Online. He also won a CBC.ca Award of Excellence for his work on Sports Online's Euro 2004 website.