MESSI’S OUR REAL GAFFER
Goal hero Rojo reveals Lionel was the man who led Argentina to their vital win over Nigeria.. and he even gave the team talk
MARCOS ROJO has revealed Lionel Messi led Argentina’s lastgasp win over Nigeria – not coach Jorge Sampaoli.
The Barcelona superstar joined forces with club-mate, Javier Mascherano and AC Milan midfielder Lucas Biglia after the country’s shambolic 3-0 defeat to Croatia last week under Sampaoli. Despite his presence on the touchline, marginalised Sampaoli played little if any part in Tuesday’s win which set up a mouthwatering last-16 clash against France. Although the former Chile and Sevilla coach looked to be directing play from his technical area, nobody was listening. Instead, Messi had given the team talk (below, right). He then opened the scoring, and although he appeared to drift out of the game in the second half, Rojo revealed it was because he was Argentina’s on-field general. In fact, remarkable TV pictures caught Sampaoli asking Messi whether he was bringing on Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero after his captain strode past him to pass a message to an official. Manchester United defender Rojo explained how Messi had ordered the team forward, telling them not to surrender and urging them to save their country’s honour.
Centre-back Rojo, who obeyed the instruction and scored with just four minutes left, said: “My goal? Messi told everyone that it was either life or death. It could have gone badly.
“We could have conceded but Leo was stubborn. He told me to run forward. He told everyone to attack no matter what.
“He truly read the game and risks. He’s a leader, the best.”
Argentina’s players took matters into their own hands after the Croatia humiliation left them fearing they could go out at the group stage for only the second time in 56 years.
The players are understood to have gone over Sampaoli’s head the following day to their FA’s general manager, Jorge Burrachaga before deciding they would take charge of their own fate. Out went Sampaoli’s hopeless 3-5-2 formation which saw them ruthlessly exposed last week.
In came a 4-3-3 formation, within which the Argentina players looked far more comfortable.
Mascherano had set up the tactics – making five changes – and gave the final instructions in the tunnel. Messi was pictured on TV giving his team-mates a team-talk at half-time. And Biglia – who did not feature in the starting line-up – gave instructions to subs before they went on.
Sampaoli later sat alongside Messi in the post-match press conference, gushing about his star man and attempting to suggest they had worked together on the win.
Instead he appeared to endorse Messi’s leadership and underline the fact that the 31-year-old, one of the best players of all time, is untouchable in the set-up. He said: “We have the best player in the world. The rest of the players need to benefit from that.”