Don’t blame Messi if Argentina fail, says Maradona

Saturday, 5 July 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

BELO HORIZONTE Brazil (Reuters): Argentina are playing far below their best, are over-reliant on Lionel Messi and must improve if they are to beat Belgium in their World Cup quarter-finals, according to Diego Maradona.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi attends a training session at the team’s training centre in Belo Horizonte city, 2 July – REUTERS

“We still haven’t got started,” Maradona, who won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina, said in a withering analysis of the team’s performances so far at the tournament in Brazil. “They need to get it into their heads that we can’t be ‘Sporting Messi’. Maybe he can score a great goal ... but if it doesn’t come off for the kid, we can’t jump on him tomorrow as if he’s guilty of the Argentine disaster.” Maradona, Argentina’s coach at the last World Cup where they went out in the quarter-finals, was speaking on Venezuelan TV after Argentina’s defeat of Switzerland this week. His comments were widely reported in Latin American media on Thursday. He said Argentina’s big name team were playing at only 40 percent of their capacity and criticised them for only squeaking past Switzerland 1-0 with a last-gasp goal in extra time. “Man-for-man, and collectively, Argentina are better. They (the Swiss) may make good watches but they have few footballers,” the always controversial Maradona said. Argentina, who were to train behind closed doors on Thursday at their camp in Belo Horizonte before flying to Brasilia for Saturday’s game versus Belgium, won all three group games before beating the Swiss in the last 16. Messi has won man-of-the-match in each game, and scored four of Argentina’s seven goals. But the wins have all been by one-goal margins and have masked some subdued individual performances by other players expected to make bigger contributions. “The kid (Messi) is very alone. The team doesn’t have a change of rhythm, movements in its strikers,” added Maradona, saying the players lacked a give-it-all attitude. “I feel something very strong inside, like bitterness, rage, frustration, because Argentina can play much, much better. The coach has to impose this.” If they do not improve against Belgium, “we’re in trouble,” he said. Argentina have won the World Cup twice and would dearly love to lift it for a third time on the soil of their great rivals Brazil. Tens of thousands of blue-and-white-clad Argentines have flooded across the border to cheer them on.

Belgium unveil Messi plan with a Hazard of their ownssssss

REUTERS: Belgium pointed to Eden Hazard as a potential match winner as they laid out a strategy to combat Lionel Messi and Argentina when they meet in their World Cup quarter-final in Brasilia on Saturday. “Hey, we’ve got Eden,” teammate Kevin Mirallas said on Thursday as reporters sought answers to the question of dealing with the threat of Argentina’s multiple World Footballer of the Year award winner. “You can’t compare him with Messi or (Cristiano) Ronaldo, but he is still something special.” Seeing off Argentina’s talismanic threat will be a communal effort, added defender Jan Vertonghen. “We have to stand together as team. If Messi gets past one of us, then there must a second and third player ready to stop him.” But he added it was Argentina who had more to fret over as they prepared a game plan against the Belgians, who have four wins under their belt in Brazil already. “We are a team that is difficult for an opponent to prepare against and to play against,” Vertonghen insisted. “We can play different systems and we have a lot of good players on the bench. It is exceptional to have so many different qualities in a squad. We are certainly not scared about Saturday.” Midfielder Axel Witsel said the game in the Brazilian capital might even prove easier than their previous matches at tournament. “It is understandable that in the group phase we played against cagey teams and found it difficult against them. “Against the Americans (in the last 16) there was much more room and I expect Argentina to look to dictate the play. Hopefully that gives us room to infiltrate and our players can profit from the gaps they offer. We have a lot of players with pace. “The Argentines haven’t played well to date,” added Witsel.