FCBARCELONA.CAT

20.01.2010 10:58

The 100 club

Edgar Fornós

Leo Messi is the latest player to join a select group of players who have score 100 goals for FC Barcelona.

Despite his youth, the 22-year-old Messi has already accumulated some impressive stats. At the weekend, the first of the two goals he scored against Sevilla allowed him to reach the magical figure of 100 Barça goals. Former Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert told us: “Any manager would love to have Messi in his squad. It’s amazing that he’s already scored 100 goals at his age. It’s incredible”.

How far can Messi go?

We also spoke to two other legendary players who also figure in the 100 club; midfielder Juan Manuel Asensi and forward José Antonio Zaldúa, who told us: “It’s extraordinary. He’s the best player in the world. He’s already reached 101 goals and at this rate he’ll break all the records there are”.

As for Asensi: “Reaching the one hundred goal mark is very difficult and Messi has managed it almost at the start of his sporting career. I reached 100 but after ten seasons. Imagine that”.

“He’s a phenomenon. What Messi does with the football at his feet nobody else can do. He’s the best player in the world and if he avoids injury I’m sure he’ll break all footballing records. If he goes on like this I’m sure he’ll exceed César’s tally of 235 goals”.

The role of the midfielders

You can’t have forwards without midfielders and there are no goal scorers without good passers of the ball, as another member of this elite club, Stoitchkov, told us: “Reaching the figure of 100 goals in a team like Barça is relatively easy since you’ve got very good players around you. In my time, playing alongside Laudrup, Bakero, Amor and the rest made things much easier for me in front of goal. Messi is lucky enough to play alongside Xavi and Iniesta, who are excellent players and a few years ago alongside Ronaldinho and Deco”.

Kluivert stresses team effort

Another prolific goal scorer for Barça, Patrick Kluivert (122 in 6 seasons), highlighted how difficult it is to reach 100 goals and stressed the importance of team: “As a forward I know how difficult it is to score more than 100 goals in a team. I had the good fortune to share a dressing room with such good players as Figo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, as well as players like Xavi, who are still at Barça. Without your team-mates it’s impossible to score so many goals”.