Billy R Ford said:Haven't had the US win in that simulator, but after a dozen or so tries I got what you might call my realistic-dream final - Argentina beating Spain to win the Cup.
I know people are tired of Spain, but I'd love to see Messi overcome his Barca teammates and really make the case for being the greatest of all time. It's been pointed out that without Messi, Xavi and Iniesta are World and European champions, but without Xavi/Iniesta, Messi hasn't won much with Argentina (senior level at least). As a neutral, seeing him erase the final doubts about his career would be awesome.
Not to argue with you, but rather to riff off it, I think maybe 25 years ago you'd have a hard time making a case for a player being the GOAT without World Cup success, at least if he played for a major nation, but the difference in quality between the CL and the World Cup is so big now that I don't think it's a realistic barometer any more.
I also wonder if Barca would have won so many trophies recently without Messi. I suspect they'd have run into the Arsenal disease of recent seasons (not this one) of trying to pass the ball into the net. Pep would have been running them out in 4-6-0 quite a bit, I bet.