Former U.S. soccer player Taylor Twellman made a bold claim on Wednesday, saying that Lionel Messi is better than Serena Williams, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods after Argentina reached the FIFA World Cup final.
Argentina defeated England 2-1 in the World Cup semifinal on Wednesday. The first half of the match ended goalless, with England focusing on containing Messi. Anthony Gordon gave England the lead in the 55th minute, but manager Thomas Tuchel later introduced multiple defensive substitutes to protect the advantage.
Argentina capitalized on the shift in tactics, with Enzo Fernandez equalizing in the 85th minute before Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute.
Following the victory, the five-time MLS All-Star praised Messi during an appearance on Yahoo Sports, comparing him to Williams, Jordan and Woods:
“I grew up watching Michael Jordan, OK? And if I was trying to articulate Michael Jordan, I don’t know if I would have found the words consistently of when the moment is the biggest, when the lights are the brightest, how does this player shine? I wasn’t in broadcasting for Tiger Woods. I wasn’t in broadcasting for Serena Williams. Guys, he’s better than all of those three. He really is. I don’t think we fully understand at age 39. He ran over 6 miles in the knockout stage every game.”
Serena Williams made a comeback to tennis at the age of 44 after a break of almost four years. Her first appearance was at the HSBC Championships’ doubles tournament, where she paired with Victoria Mboko. However, the pair were forced to withdraw before their second-round match due to Mboko’s injury.
Serena Williams opened up about withdrawing from the Wimbledon doubles tournament
After returning to tennis, Serena Williams played her first singles match at the Wimbledon Championships on July 1, when she lost to Maya Joint 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-3 in the opening round. During the match, the American suffered a knee injury that forced her to pull out from the doubles event, where she was scheduled to pair with her sister, Venus Williams.
She announced the withdrawal on Instagram by sharing a bunch of videos and pictures of her knee treatment. Opening up about how heartbroken she was with the withdrawal, she wrote:
“I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside @venuswilliams once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee just isn’t ready to compete. I’m especially grateful to tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to play here. Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful…All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you,” wrote Serena Williams.
She added:
“The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match…yikes! The good news is my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn’t able to get it ready for doubles.”
Serena Williams also competed at the doubles tournament of the Berlin Open, where she teamed with Karolina Muchova. They lost to Erin Routliffe and Guiliana Olmos in the opening round.
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