Messi is like Maradona, says Henry

Argentine playmaker Lionel Messi’s style is very similar to that of legendary footballer Diego Maradona, his Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry said Monday.

“I don’t want to put pressure on Messi, but you have to say it, he is very similar to Maradona, the best player I have ever seen. He enters the pitch and does things that only he knows how to do,” he told a news conference.

“It is normal to depend on Messi but we are not going to die without him, even if it is better to have him on the pitch,” added Henry, who has scored 12 times in the league so far this year, the same number as during all of last season.

Messi, 21, scored twice on Sunday in Barcelona’s 2-1 away win over Santander after coming on as a second half substitute, allowing the club to maintain its 12-point lead in the Spanish league.

Last week the Barcelona winger was named by Maradona in an Argentina squad for the first time. The Argentine coach included him in his 20-man squad for a February 11 friendly against France in Marseille.

Messi has scored ten times in 34 appearances for Argentina.