Messi plays Russian roulette
Is it win or bust at this World Cup for Argentina’s magician?
With one sentence, Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli succinctly summed up the pressure Lionel Messi is under as he and his team head to Russia 2018. “The World Cup is like a gun pointing at Lionel Messi’s head, ready to shoot if he doesn’t win.” Messi is only 30 but this will be his fourth and, according to the man himself, final World Cup – or at least, it will be if he doesn’t win it. To date, Diego Maradona is the only Argentine to feature in four World Cups, having made 21 appearances at the finals between Spain 82 and USA 94. Messi will match both records if he leads his team to the semi-finals this summer. Yet that is far from a given. Unlike Maradona, Messi’s international career has thus far largely been one of frustration rather than glory.
The weight on Messi’s shoulders is heavy, and it has only grown with each defeat. The Barcelona forward has lost four finals with Argentina: the Copa America in 2007, the World Cup in 2014, the Copa America again in 2015 and Copa America one more time in 2016. In all, Argentina are on a run of seven straight final setbacks since their previous trophy of note: the 1993 Copa America.
This run has already seen one gifted generation – Roberto Ayala, Juan Sebastian Veron, Juan Roman Riquelme and Javier Zanetti – cruelly branded ‘losers’ back home. Now the generation of Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria and Messi are trying to avoid a similar fate.
Discussing the idea of losing may be a bad tactic for someone running for political office, but as a footballer, Messi has made a point of addressing the subject head-on. “If we don’t win, all of us must disappear from the national team,” he said in December. In another interview four months later, he reiterated his point: “It’s what this group are thinking and how people have made us feel.
It seems that reaching three finals means nothing. Obviously we rely on good results, and sadly we didn’t get them in those finals. But we were so heavily criticised, despite getting that far, that we know if we don’t win [the World Cup], stronger things will be said about us and we will have no option but to leave.”
This isn’t the first time that Messi has threatened to walk away from Argentina. The fear is that this time he really means it.
Messi has long faced accusations of not being ‘at one’ with Argentina – after all, he left home for Barcelona when he was 13. There were even claims once that he didn’t know the words to the national anthem. Veron, one of the senior figures in the Argentina side during Messi’s early days, would send his countryman chunks of the anthem just to make him laugh.
For quite a long time, there was a feeling in Argentina that supporters of the national side weren’t getting to see the same Messi as the one who wowed the Camp Nou week in, week out. There was a spell from early 2009 to late 2010 in which the only two goals he scored across 17 internationals were in two friendlies against Spain. That period included the 2010 World Cup, of course, where Messi’s lack of goals was not only a huge surprise, but hugely damaging to his team. In the same period, he scored 74 competitive goals for Barça.
Then, in 2011, after a 0-0 draw with Colombia in Santa Fe, Messi was jeered by a section of the home support. It was by no means a massive demonstration, but it hit Messi where it hurt. Media criticism quickly followed. “Leo is having a really tough time,” his father, Jorge, told an Argentine radio station soon after. “The fans can think what they like, but what hurts most is what the media say. They are throwing oil on the fire.”
Messi was evidently hurt. His were not crocodile tears; this wasn’t the first time failure with the national team had left him devastated.
“I will never forget Messi’s tears inside the dressing room after the game against Germany,” said Maradona, Argentina’s manager for their 4-0 defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup. “For all of those morons who say that he doesn’t feel the jersey, he was the one who was crying the most.”
In 2012 Messi enjoyed his best year to date, smashing 91 goals in all competitions for club and country. It’s also the only year to date in which he scored more than a goal per game for the Albiceleste, netting 12 times in nine matches. Yet there were still more downs than ups. On the international scene, he was struggling to make the same impact in the biggest games as he did at club level.
The crying continued at Brazil 2014. Messi scored four goals and won the tournament’s Golden Ball, but Argentina lost the final to Germany in extra time, again leaving their No.10 sobbing in the dressing room.
“That night at the Maracana, when we found him crying like a child, our souls were broken,” said Pablo Zabaleta, who made his Argentina debut in the same match as Messi back in 2005. “He suffers a lot. We know how much he cares and all the sacrifices he makes to travel the world and be present in whatever match Argentina play. When you hear that people are labelling us as losers lacking passion, it hurts.”
Having received harsh individual criticism for what some perceived to be lacklustre performances in Brazil, even with that Player of the Tournament award, Messi got yet more stick after the Copa America in 2015. Argentina were surprisingly beaten by Chile – managed by Sampaoli at the time – on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the final.
There was a rare chance to put things right just 12 months later, in the Copa America Centenario held in the USA. Argentina beat Chile in their group, strolled to the final by scoring 18 goals in five matches... then drew 0-0 with Chile again and lost the penalty shootout again, with Messi blasting his attempt over the bar. In a fit of post-defeat pique, he announced his retirement from international football. Two months later he’d reverse his decision, and his return was enough to help Argentina limp over the line and qualify for the World Cup in Russia, thanks largely to Messi’s hat-trick in their final game away to Ecuador. Clearly, however, the relationship is under strain.
He may have always played with the same effortless verve, but the Messi who wears the No.10 shirt for Argentina today is very different to the one who made his debut against Hungary in 2005.
“I coached Messi at the 2008 Olympics, and then with the senior team in 2010 and 2011,” says former Argentina boss Sergio Batista, “and the biggest difference I see between then and now is that he seems to be a much bigger voice in the dressing room today. That’s normal – he’s more experienced and more mature. But back then he was very shy – almost silent.”
Batista was part of the 1986 World Cup-winning team built around Maradona, so he isn’t surprised that the Albiceleste’s current star is constantly measured against El Pibe de Oro. He explains: “In ’86 we had the world’s best player and we won. Now, we have the world’s best player but we don’t win. So, criticism’s natural. In Argentina we are born into this culture where only winning seems to matter.”
Media grumbling about Messi’s dressing-room influence goes back to 2012, when it was first claimed he’d have a word in the coach’s ear should he fancy a tweak to Argentina’s team selection or tactics. Such allegations weren’t firmed up by anyone in the camp, but that wasn’t enough to kill off the ‘friends of Messi’ tag that was attached to any player who was picked despite poor performances. Ezequiel Lavezzi and Ever Banega were scrutinised in this way. But Sampaoli shattered the myth by leaving ‘friend of Messi’ Javier Mascherano on the bench for the first time in a decade, pleasing punters and pundits who had been demanding the overhaul of a stale-looking starting XI.
The nation was eagerly awaiting renovations within the squad, and two of the most sought-after additions were forwards Paulo Dybala (left), enjoying a brilliant season at Juventus, and Inter’s increasingly prolific Mauro Icardi. However, just two qualifying matches and one friendly later, it appeared that Messi was once again the main man wielding the real power. “With his club Dybala has become one of the world’s top players, but perhaps it’s taking him too long to adapt to our ideas – he is very good, but needs to align with the rest of the players,” was Sampaoli’s brief explanation for Dybala’s subsequent absence. “It’s a similar case with Icardi. We picked him, but there is only a very short time for a player to settle into the team. We opted for a different player [Dario Benedetto of Boca Juniors], as there are notable differences between Icardi the club player and Icardi the national team player. Right now, maybe we need to prioritise the on-pitch relationships with Messi. We’re trying to see who are the players that can adapt to play with Messi. The team will end up being his team, not mine.” Having already established Messi as the centre of his universe, Sampaoli’s objective now is to find the revolving planets.
Boca wideman Cristian Pavon did his chances no harm by hitting it off with Leo from day one. “He’s so quick!” was Messi’s appraisal after the 22-year-old made his debut against Russia in 2017. That alone could be enough to secure him a World Cup place.
Sampaoli may well be proven right in his belief that doing his utmost to maximise Messi is the only way Argentina can win the World Cup – but he needs to be careful. Although Barcelona may have ultimately felt the benefit of swinging the axe in order to keep Messi front and centre, selling Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa and more while still winning trophy after trophy, Sampaoli can’t go out and sign Neymar or Luis Suarez to dovetail with his leading man. There is also a risk of alienating men who might be needed in the future – especially if Messi really does choose 2018 to call it a day.
Since Argentina’s disastrous display in an embarrassing 6-1 mauling by Spain in March (the third-worst result in the country’s history, in terms of scoreline), the thought of an Argentina team without Messi has really hit home.
It may only have been a friendly, but it’s a result that will leave the Albiceleste smarting for longer than most. Isco’s brilliant movement and Diego Costa’s sharp finishing were just too much for an Argentina that had no Messi, and no idea how pose a threat to their opponents, let alone win the game.
“People have criticised Messi a lot, but when he’s not there, you can see that it’s a completely different team,” claimed Costa in the mixed zone after full-time. “Argentinians need to be thankful that he plays for them. What happened against us is the clear example that Messi needs to be taken care of and valued.”
By highlighting this notion of a post-tournament “disappearance” of senior members from the national team, Messi is, fittingly enough, playing Russian roulette with his international career.
At the same time, though, he remains positive. He has said: “I have seen everywhere in the world the people’s wishes that I have a good World Cup so they can finally see me become a champion, and that’s impressive. Everywhere I go, I see that desire. I try not to think about it, but I know it’s there.”
Then there’s the suggestion that Messi reportedly asked his Barça team-mates to secure the league title as quickly as possible, to give him more time to prepare mentally and physically for Russia.
In the past four years, by battling the press, altering his appearance, growing a beard, criticising the FA, announcing his retirement and then reconsidering, Messi became more like Maradona than ever. None of that will help him to match Maradona’s achievement in 1986, though, nor to be taken into the nation’s hearts in the same way.
And so, should Messi and Argentina fall short once again – even if it’s in another final – it may not be his country with their finger on the trigger of the metaphorical ‘loaded gun’, but the man himself.
ARGENTINA MANAGER JORGE SAMPAOLI HAS ALREADY ESTABLISHED MESSI AS THE CENTRE OF HIS UNIVERSE – HIS OBJECTIVE NOW IS TO FIND THE REVOLVING PLANETS