"Sport is war minus the shooting": George Orwell.
But for the man who could be your Little Brother - Lionel Messi, football is all about the shooting.
In the last four seasons he has scored 38, 47, 53 and now 68 times so far with three games remaining. He's surpassed Gerd Muller's '72-'73 vintage of 67 goals for Bayern Munich and Pele's 66 for Santos in '57-'58. Way ahead of our own Dixie Dean's 63 for Everton in '27-'28 of whom Bill Shankly said "He belongs to company of the supremely great, like Beethoven, Shakespeare and Rembrandt. This Young Master's achievement puts him in the same category, aged just 24. Watch all 68 here:
Messi's goalscoring average for the Argentine national team is worse than his Barcelona average - 1 in 3, compared to 1 in 2 so he's not up there with Ferenc Puskas who almost scored a goal in each international game, or Muller who slightly bettered that. As for all time goalscoring greatness, will anyone emulate Pele's 1281 goals in 1363 matches? Charlton Athletic will win the Premier Leauge before that happens!