Ger Brennan: Connolly and Messi cast in same mould

AIB All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final: Corofin (Galway) v St Vincent’s (Dublin): Their lifestyles and, most probably, bank balances are poles apart but Ger Brennan believes Diarmuid Connolly and Lionel Messi are two players cut from the same cloth.

Brennan, Connolly and the rest of their St Vincent’s colleagues watched Messi in the flesh before Christmas when they travelled to a La Liga game as reward for a successful season. The Dublin football champions famously captured the AIB All-Ireland Club title last march and are just two more wins from a successful title defence.

They play Connacht champions Corofin tomorrow and are hoping for the same ease of victory as Barcelona enjoyed in that December tie when they beat Cordoba 5-0.

That game was notable for Luis Suarez scoring his first league goal for the Catalan giants since transferring from Liverpool though Messi, typically, stole the show with a late brace.

Brennan agreed in Gaelic football terms, Connolly is about as close to Messi as it gets, ultra talented and capable of conjuring magical moments from nothing.

“Yes, he is,” nodded Brennan. “I think Diarmuid works far harder than Messi, in fairness. But Diarmuid is definitely playing super stuff at the moment. He’s in the form of his life.

“There were only two or three guys that had been to the Nou Camp before so it was great, nice to see the movement of the Barcelona players. Messi looked very lazy actually and didn’t seem to run anywhere. But he scored two goals at the end.

“Iniesta, Suarez, those guys worked well on the evening. But Messi just seemed to pick up all the loose ends at the end and he got his goals.”

Asked if it was interesting to compare the movement of the Barcelona players to what he’s used to at Vincent’s and with Dublin, two-time Sam Maguire winner Brennan nodded.

“It definitely was,” he said. “You could see that the clear plan of Barcelona was to win the ball back. They would draw in on the opposition player in possession as quickly as possible. Quite often, nine times out of 10, they would win the ball back. In terms of when they were in possession, they were always trying to work these little triangles and get the ball into the edge of the box. That’s where Messi would pop up. It was fascinating.”

Like Messi, Connolly has a knack of avoiding serious injuries and will take part in yet another major game tomorrow.

“Some lads are just freaks,” smiled Brennan, referencing Connolly’s non stop activity for club and county over the last two years or so. “Diarmuid is in the minority of players where the genetics are just spot on. He doesn’t get too many serious knocks, maybe a few bumps and bruises along the way which he manages really well.

“There is of course that danger that something is going to eventually give with him in years to come. Hopefully not.”