Neil Lennon: Messi needs World Cup win to be true legend

My heart says Argentina but my head is telling me Germany will lift the World Cup.

I’d love nothing more than to see Lionel Messi leave no-one in any doubt he is one of the best players the world of football has ever witnessed.

For me, he is already up there with Pele and Maradona. But the difference is those guys produced the goods on the biggest stage of all to inspire their countries to World Cup glory.

Unfortunately, unless Messi gets his hands on the trophy I fear he’ll never be ranked alongside those two.

And that is why I’d love to see him play the game of his life today and Argentina to overcome Germany.

I’m not quite so sure he is at the peak of his powers just now. He suffered quite a few injury problems last season with Barcelona and doesn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders.

I’ve still selected him in my team of the tournament because by anyone else’s standards he has still been terrific. It’s just you come to expect so much from the little guy.

When he netted a double against Nigeria I was hoping that was him springing into life and he would hit a purple patch but, while he has been impressive in the last two matches, he hasn’t been outstanding.

What I like about Messi, apart from his unbelievable ability, is how down-to-earth he is.

He is a superstar yet he never seems to get distracted by the off-the-field events like so many others. He lives for his football and is a very humble and respectful individual.

I had a brief chat with him within the confines of Celtic Park on the night we beat Barcelona 2-1. He shook my hand and congratulated me on the victory and was a class act. I congratulated him on the birth of his baby son, Thiago.

Much of our success that night was how we managed to contain him. We planned to try and limit the space he was given by keeping the midfield right on top of our defence and warned the lads not to give him any room.

But I don’t see Germany devising a special game plan to keep him quiet in tonight’s Final. They’ve got enough good players themselves to focus more on what they can do to Argentina rather than what Argentina can do to them.

The good news is I think we will be in for an open game. And the reason I fancy Germany to win is the additional recovery time they’ve had. In tournament football that extra day can make all the difference.

On top of that, Germany were coasting after just half an hour against Brazil and were able to down tools and take it easy. In contrast, Argentina played extra-time and they had to endure a penalty shoot-out.

So I believe the freshness will be the difference on the night and Germany will win it by a couple of goals. But I’d be delighted to see Messi do it. It would put him up there with the other footballing gods.