Lionel Messi: Argentina manager issues urgent message to fans - 7M sport

Lionel Messi: Argentina manager issues urgent message to fans



Posted Thursday, June 21, 2018 by Dailystar.co.uk

ARGENTINA'S coach has pleaded with fans to stop blaming Lionel Messi when games do not go to plan.

Messi was under pressure to perform in Argentina's opening game of the tournament against Iceland, with his big rival Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring a hat-trick against Spain the day before.

The South Americans' could only muster a 1-1 draw with Iceland as the Barcelona superstar missed a penalty and had a stoppage time free-kick cannon off a wall.

"Messi can't be the only guilty one," said Jorge Sampaoli.

"When he scores, all Argentines celebrate, so when he misses, we can't jump on him alone, that's too easy a way to think.

Lionel Messi: Argentina manager issues urgent message to fans
LEGEND: Argentina's coach has pleaded with fans to stop blaming Lionel Messi

"When he has two or three opponents trying to block him, somewhere on the pitch a teammate is free, as happened against Iceland.

"We need to take advantage of that."

It is unclear whether Argentina's fans will listen to Sampaoli, who also finds himself under pressure due to an underwhelming year in charge of a country that has a magnificent pool of talent to choose from.

Sampaoli's choice of formation has been questioned, with many unsure about his use of three central defenders.

He defended his selection by insisting the formation gives him flexibility to adapt against different opponents, however, he conceded that Argentina needed to be more "elastic" in their play.

The Russia 2018 World Cup could be Messi's last, as he turns 31 this weekend.

A lot has been made of Argentina's over-dependence on their world class winger, despite the country having the likes of Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Angel di Maria.

Speaking about Messi, Sampaoli said: "I told him 'This is the World Cup of 40 million (Argentinians). You made a mistake, I made a mistake, we all made a mistake'.

"The team will be together when things go well and when things go badly."

Messi's endless battle with Ronaldo over who is the world's best player is not the only comparison he has to continually deal with.

Argentina's fans struggle to agree about whether Messi is better or worse than Maradona, who won the World Cup in 1986.

Sampaoli feels that the two should not be compared as they are different players and that fans should appreciate what these football legends have contributed to Argentina.

"They are different. Their contexts are different," he said.

"With Leo, Argentina have only lost three or four games.

"He's a national hero, as Diego was. Every Argentinian has the No.10 of Messi and the No.10 of Maradona, that is priceless."

Argentina's next opponent is Croatia, who had a comfortable 2-0 win against Nigeria, putting them in pole position to go through from Group D to the last 16.

Messi will be lining up against Barcelona team mate Ivan Rakitic and Real Madrid rivals Mateo Kovacic and Luka Modric, when Argentina play Croatia tomorrow.

Sampaoli thinks it is going to be a tricky fixture because of the talent Croatia have at their disposal.

"It's going to be difficult. Croatia have a generation of outstanding players who have just won," he said.

Argentina face Croatia at 7pm on Thursday.



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