Argentina legend, Diego Maradona believes too much pressure was put on the shoulders of Lionel Messi during the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, and that without the presence of Messi, Argentina would have been an ordinary side.
Argentina crashed out in the round of 16 after a 4-3 defeat against France.
Angel Di Maria and Gabriel Mercado overturned Antoine Griezmann’s penalty to give Argentina the lead in the last-16 clash on Saturday. But France hit back from a stunner from Benjamin Pavard and a Kylian Mbappe double.
Sergio Aguero scored late on for Jorge Sampaoli’s side. But it was not enough to avoid a 4-3 defeat to Didier Deschamps’ side in Kazan.
Maradona was in attendance for the match and did not see anything that surprised him. He told on teleSUR,
“We came to the cinema more than the pitch, because we came to see the chronicle of an announced death. And that’s what happened. France contained Messi, Argentina’s midfield, so he could not get in behind them. Without Messi, we are just another team.”
There was also some disappointment in the voice of the Argentine legend,
“The game was played in a way we anticipated. What we were expecting happened. Another World Cup has gone, and we are left with nothing. It’s bad that another World Cup happened and Argentina did not manage to have a consistent team.”
Argentina’s campaign was filled with drama amid talks of a mutiny and the players seeking to have Sampaoli replaced. In the match against France, we also saw a different kind of tactics from the manager.
Sampaoli deployed Messi as a false nine and handed Cristian Pavon his first World Cup start against France. He left Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala on the bench and, Maradona was wholly unimpressed with the coach’s tactics.
“It was seen from the formation, Pavon, Messi and Di Maria had to attack. Yes, they can create play, but they are not strikers,” he concluded.
Maradona, who won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986 and is still considered one of the country’s greatest ever players.