Shadow of Maradona looms large over struggling Messi

Diego Maradona offers pep talk to Lionel Messi (L) during the time when the former was the head coach of the Argentine side. AFP PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Soccer. It is arguable that no single footballer at the World Cup has so much resting upon his shoulders like Lionel Messi.
  • His Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo has already delivered a continental crown for his country but Messi, 31, is still searching for his first major title with the national team.

Reputations are nothing without application at the World Cup as several former world champions have found out.
Brazil have struggled in two games, ditto Germany, and Argentina are staring at the possibility of an ugly exit in their group.
In truth Crostia, who whitewashed Argetina 3-0 on Thursday night, were always a better side than the Jorge Sampaoli’s side. The latter have a rich World Cup history but their European opponents boast of a superior squad be it man for man or the unit.
Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Ivan Rakitic(Barcelona) and Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), five of the stars who dismantled Argentina excelled at elite European clubs last season, and were more than a match for Lionel Messi who barely had a hold of the game.

No doubt every team at the World Cup would want to have Messi in their ranks but the era of an individual single-handedly carrying a team to the trophy – Diego Maradona-style - is long gone.
Part of the problem for Messi is that the expectations in Argentina and elsewhere are for him to win the World Cup the way Argentina’s greatest footballer did it in 1986. It is difficult for that to happen in the modern game. It also doesn’t help his cause that the Argentine team in Russia is arguably the weakest he has been part of since his debut in 2005. That explains why the team struggled throughout the qualifiers and were only saved by the brilliance of Messi to qualify for the World Cup.

Maradona’s shadow in Russia, as has been the case with other World Cups, looms all over Messi. Through no fault of the Argentine idol, live images of the country’s demi-god cheering his team must inevitably be taking their toll on Messi’s shoulders.
Messi’s case is a peculiar one. Long before Ronaldo helped Portugal lift the Euros, no comparison with Eusebio and Luis Figo gained any kind of traction among the fans and media. And anyway neither Eusebio nor Figo had half the career of Maradona.

Brazil’s Neymar is seen as the Selecao’s golden boy but he has never been burdened with comparisons to three-time World Cup winner Pele despite the two having excelled for Santos in their club careers.
Messi, however, must live with the debt of winning Argentina the World Cup because the standard was set by Maradona, whose legend Messi is chasing - in the eyes of many Argentines and neutral observers.