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Scientists try to explain Messi genius

Written By Sizzling LEO on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 | 12:49 AM


The sublime skills of Barcelona's Lionel Messi could be due to an ability to glean more information from a single gaze than any other player, say researchers.
"We were interested in the underlying mechanisms of expert performance in sport," said Professor Norbert Hagemann from the University of Kassel in an article in UEFA.com. 
"Footballers are active on a huge field and have to attend to, or view, so many people on the field that we believed the best player could attend to more players at the same time."
But Messi doesn't just see more on the football pitch. Like a trained hunter, he obtains more information from his surroundings than lesser-skilled players. Terming it as "longer fixed duration", the scientists believe that skillful players seem naturally blessed with an increased sensorial awareness - like the famed "sixth sense" myth. 
They found this out by showing amateur footballers various football situations and noting down their opinions in each case. 
However, the ability to see more in any situation is not just down to innate talent. Experience plays a part as well. Lesser-skilled players can improve their understanding of the game by gaining a larger knowledge base. 
"The less skilled player has to learn the structure of play, the patterns of the movements and so on. They have to build a knowledge base that helps them discover the relevant information in the current situation", said Prof. Hagemann. 
This is probably a reason why certain managers prefer to recruit older players even if their physical attributes are on the decline. 
And combining a large knowledge base with the "longer fixed duration" can be the most potent combination that only a select few players possess, enrapturing us with their breathtaking feats.
"If the best footballer already knows what is going to happen then they will know where to direct their attention," says Hagemann. 
"Players like Messi are great at decision-making. They have anticipation abilities that help them solve complex problems in the best possible way."
Currently in the La Liga, Messi has played 21 games and scored 23 goals, one shy of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Real Madrid man himself was the subject of a riveting documentary by Castrol last year, when a battery of tests was performed on him, to figure out what made him better than almost every other player on the planet.
Messi will be involved in the second-leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Valencia on Wednesday night before travelling to Osasuna for a La Liga fixture on Saturday.
But the most anticipated match of the near future is Barcelona's upcoming round-of-16 Champions League clash against German outfit Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, February 14. 
Messi has top-scored in the competition for three successive seasons and leads the pack this year as well, having notched up six strikes to be joint top with Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez.
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