This is a lovely bit of analysis on Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney and their respective approaches to soccer. My favorite bit (on Messi):

One freezing night this January, I was sitting in the Camp Nou with a Barcelona official, watching Barca-Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Cup. When the game kicked off, the official said, “Watch Messi.”

It was a puzzling sight. The little man was wandering around, apparently ignoring the ball. The official explained: “In the first few minutes he just walks across the field. He is looking at each opponent, where the guy positions himself, and how their defense fits together. Only after doing that does he start to play.”

Remarkably, even unbelievably, Messi has never scored in the first two minutes of a match. And that’s why. He’s thinking, plotting, planning.

[Via Kottke.org]