Buenos Aires: Diego Maradona feels Lionel Messi does not have to prove anything to Argentina as the Barcelona superstar prepares for what could be his last World Cup.
Argentina reached the final in Brazil four years ago but were narrowly defeated by Germany, with Mario Gotze scoring the only goal in extra time.
Maradona inspired Argentina to glory the last time they won the World Cup, in Mexico in 1986, while he captained the side as they lost in the final four years later.
But Messi has been unable to spark a comparable triumph, seeing his side beaten three times in major finals, the forward temporarily retiring from international duty after the Copa America Centenario defeat to Chile in 2016.
Messi’s assessment is that Argentina are not one of the leading contenders for the title at Russia 2018, but while Maradona is not backing La Albiceleste either, it is for a different reason. “I would advise Messi to keep playing, to enjoy the game,” Maradona said.
“He has to forget about the critics, if he can win the World Cup or not. He has nothing to prove. He has to enjoy the game on the field.
“I don’t know [coach Jorge] Sampaoli, I don’t know how he plays. But, I know a lot of the players and I know they will give everything. And I think they have a good opportunity to win. But I don’t choose Argentina as favourites because the favourites never wins.”
Messi and Maradona are often compared but former Argentina international Hernan Crespo does not believe it is useful to pit the duo against each other. “It’s is useless to compare them because we need to enjoy it,” Crespo said. “Maradona and Messi are both Argentineans and it is incredible that they had such huge impact on the football history.
“It is obvious that the social impact Maradona had will never be seen again. It’s not about winning trophies, and it is what it is. Regarding Messi, his impact’s been in terms of football itself, there is a ‘before’ and ‘after-Messi’.
“So then, why should we compare them? We just need to enjoy them.”
Meanwhile, Maradona claimed he would have been ‘arrested’ for his goal against England in 1986 if VAR had existed. The iconic Argentine midfielder famously punched the ball past Peter Shilton in the England net when the two sides met up at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup.
Maradona claimed he had headed the ball into the net and referee Ali Bin Nassar allowed the goal.
The incident became known as the ‘Hand of God’ goal after he commented in his post-match interview that he had scored ‘a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.’
The diminutive Argentine also scored what has been dubbed ‘the goal of the century’ in the same game.
But he has now admitted that if modern video assistant referee technology had been around, his punishment would have been far more severe. Interviewing Maradona, Robert Pires asked: “What do you think would have happened in the England vs Argentina match of ‘86 if VAR had existed?”
“I would have been arrested. Because you can’t steal in front of 80,000 people,” Maradona joked. Pires replied: “What 80,000? The world! Which was it, the left (hand)?”
Maradona raises his left fist in the air before saying ‘this one’.
Agencies
