
So it was nice to see 79 year-old French legend Just Fontaine praising today's net-king Leo Messi, who has just passed Pele's total of 75 goals in a year.
The top scorer in a World Cup finals with 13 at Sweden 1958 said fellow No.10 Messi was "the only one capable of scoring the same number of goals as I did" and praised him for confirming a short and light physique like his was the best for goalscoring.

The 24 year-old Frenchman bagged a hat-trick in his opener against Paraguay, and ended his haul with four against West Germany in the 3rd Place Play-Off. The Marrakech-born striker won only 21 caps for France, scoring 30 times, an amazing ratio. He should be more famous than he is; perhaps that is because he spent most of his career at Reims and '58 was still early days for television in Europe, or rather because a broken leg cut his career short in 1962.

At South Africa 2010 he took a dim view of France's forward line. He said of Franck Ribéry,
"He dribbles past seven players and then the eighth one takes the ball off him," of Nicolas Anelka, "someone said during the match he had leaden feet; well the head then too" and Yoann Gourcuff, "he's lost...he doesn't know who to give the ball to."
Given his record, perhaps we should cut him some slack.
"It wasn't easier to score in 1958," he insists.
-Sean O'Conor
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