Opinion: Jorge Jesus’ criticism of Messi is a cheap shot at Maradona’s expense

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Where the best in the business are concerned, it seems everyone always has an opinion.

It goes with the territory, but there’s a time and a place for feelings to be made known, and the death of Diego Maradona isn’t anywhere close to the right time.

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Jorge Jesus’ outburst, directed at Lionel Messi, was a cheap shot at best, a disgusting attempt to earn get a rise out of the Argentinian at a time when he, and countless others, would be grieving over the passing of one of the best to have ever played the game.

“Maradona was the best player in history, along with Pele. Pele is still here, he’s alive. Maradona was the greatest, not only because of what he was as a genius and a player, but because of the way he always showed up. That was the difference for me,” Jesus had said, cited by Sport.

“He was a world class player, but he had a passion for the game. He was born to be a footballer, he was born with everything.

“He wasn’t a manufactured product, he was born that way, with feeling for the ball.

“Today, among the two best in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo has a little bit of that, Messi has nothing. He has no passion at all.”

All Jesus will have done is demean himself in the eyes of many, and it would be no surprise if there was a backlash from fans of his own club as well as others.

His apparent attempts at an apology show that he clearly knew that he’d overstepped the mark, but perhaps thinking first before opening his mouth might be a better course of action next time.

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