Salvador, Brazil: Argentina’s dependence on Lionel Messi has been increasingly evident throughout this World Cup, with Pablo Zabaleta admitting that the rest of the team are simply “playing for him”.
“Every time we recover the ball we try to pass to him as he is the best player we have in the team and he will score goals,” the 29-year-old defender said.
“We know he is our main player, our captain, the best player in the world. This team is playing for him as we know how important Messi is for this team. We are so lucky to have Messi in Argentina.”
That dependence has appeared extreme at times — not least in the way Argentina laboured to beat Switzerland 1-0 in extra-time to set up a quarter-final meeting with Belgium in Brasilia on Saturday. After four matches in this tournament, Messi has scored four of Argentina’s seven goals and produced four man-of-the-match performances in four victories, all earned by the most slender of margins.
“That is what we expect from him, always that the best player in the world will make the difference in every game,” Zabaleta said. “Even more when you see that he is enjoying it himself, the World Cup.”
The Belgium midfielder, Eden Hazard, admits that stopping Messi on Saturday will be crucial if his side are to progress to the semi-finals.
“We know the best player in the world is in this team, but we are not afraid,” said Hazard after the extra-time 2-1 win over the USA on Tuesday.
“We can win. Argentina have done well, but they have one big player who can make the difference every game. If we can stop him, we have a chance, but it will not be easy.
“For me, he is the best in the world. I don’t know how we can stop him, but we will watch videos and we will try to win.
“They have Angel di Maria as well, but Messi is the difference. “I haven’t played against him before and I will think about it the night before. But once I am on the pitch, I don’t care who I play against. I do what I do, but I try to do my best.”
Belgium, billed as the dark horses of the tournament, have struggled to impress so far but Hazard added: “The whole team is tranquil. We do not feel pressure.”
Meanwhile, Argentina are playing far below their best, are over-reliant on Messi and must improve if they are to beat Belgium in their World Cup quarter-finals, according to Diego Maradona.
“We still haven’t got started,” Maradona, who won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina, said in a withering analysis of the team’s performances so far at the tournament in Brazil.
“They need to get it into their heads that we can’t be ‘Sporting Messi’. Maybe he can score a great goal ... but if it doesn’t come off for the kid, we can’t jump on him tomorrow as if he’s guilty of the Argentine disaster.” Maradona, Argentina’s coach at the last World Cup where they went out in the quarter-finals, was speaking on Venezuelan TV after Argentina’s defeat of Switzerland this week. His comments were widely reported in Latin American media on Thursday.
He said Argentina’s big name team were playing at only 40 per cent of their capacity and criticised them for only squeaking past Switzerland 1-0 with a last-gasp goal in extra time.
“Man-for-man, and collectively, Argentina are better. They [the Swiss] may make good watches but they have few footballers,” the always controversial Maradona said.
Argentina, who were to train behind closed doors on Thursday at their camp in Belo Horizonte before flying to Brasilia for Saturday’s game versus Belgium, won all three group games before beating the Swiss in the last 16.
Messi has won man-of-the-match in each game, and scored four of Argentina’s seven goals. But the wins have all been by one-goal margins and have masked some subdued individual performances by other players expected to make bigger contributions.
“The kid [Messi] is very alone ... The team doesn’t have a change of rhythm, movements in its strikers,” added Maradona, saying the players lacked a give-it-all attitude.
“I feel something very strong inside, like bitterness, rage, frustration, because Argentina can play much, much better ... The coach has to impose this.”
If they do not improve against Belgium, “we’re in trouble,” he said.
Argentina have won the World Cup twice and would dearly love to lift it for a third time on the soil of their great rivals Brazil. Tens of thousands of blue-and-white-clad Argentines have flooded across the border to cheer them on.
