So then, it's happening again.
Argentina in dire straits about to be dumped out of Russia 2018 unless Nigeria conjures up a win against Iceland, which they did and they beat the Super Eagles by a handsome margin.
The few who followed the World Cup qualifiers will recall that the La Albiceleste were in a similar position leading up to their final match against Ecuador at Quito.
The 2-time World Cup winners went into the final round of the South American qualifiers in 6th place outside the Top 4 positions that grant automatic qualification and trailing 5th place Peru, who occupied the playoff spot, on goal difference.
To make matters worse, Messi & Co. fell behind in the 18th second itself. The magician then wove his web around the hapless Ecuadorians and scored one of the finest hattricks seen in a qualifying match.
Yes, other results also helped their cause when Brazil hammered Chile 3-0 and Peru drew against Colombia 1-1.
Yes, Argentina is in a similar position again.
The entire timeline on my Facebook and Twitter feeds were Messi Marinating last evening on how terrible he was against Iceland and then against Croatia, who by the way, have a hobby of upsetting fancied teams.
Will this loss impact Messi's legacy adversely??
Let's look at his achievements for Barcelona:
- 8 La Liga Championships
- 4 UEFA Champions League Titles
- 4 Copa Del Rey Titles
- 3 FIFA Club World Cup Trophies
- 3 UEFA Super Cup Trophies
- 6 Spanish Super Cup Trophies
Let's look at his achievements for Argentina:
- Zero titles / trophies
This number will haunt him and the 40 million odd Argentinians who worship him like God.
Gets even more difficult to answer that question if you look at this data.
In the match against Croatia, it started right from the national anthem. There was something that was troubling him. As if he know something wasn't right or something very bad is about to happen. You could see it written large on this face.
It's one thing to be able to cut through the opposition like that hot knife cutting through butter and another thing to have to. It's as if he's obliged to ensure Argentina's win every time he takes the field. He's a hero if the team wins else a player who's good only for his club. These kind of obligations strangle freedom of expression which is much needed for an artist of his calibre.
When you're counted as amongst the best in the world, the opposition ensures that the supply line to the player is cut. Exactly what happened with Messi against Iceland and Croatia repeated it to perfection.
If Messi scores regularly for Barcelona it's because the supply line is very efficient and that includes last night's scorer, Ivan Rakitic.
Manchester City's record breaking scorer, Sergio Aguero has been a shadow of himself in Russia. A much touted Paulo Dybala isn't able to make it to the starting line-up along with Angel Di Maria who created an EPL transfer record while joing Manchester United. Marcus Rojo, Higuain Gonzalo, Otamendi all talented players but nothing to show in World Cup 2018.
A feeble defensive line-up didn't help matters either. Javier Mascherano, 34, isn't able to match the speed that he is used to.
In all this it would be unfair to pin the blame totally on Messi. He's an attacking player who needs help from the midfield and the flanks. Here, the Argentinian team is obliged to pass the ball to him whatever the situation. Most champion teams are built around 4-5 players where this team seems to be built only around Messi. Becomes quite evident and therefore easy for the opposition to stifle the striker.
Going back since 2014, Argentina has had 3 coaches with varied styles of play. It's national soccer federation required an emergency management team appointed by FIFA in 2016 following a series of crisis.
A travelling fan to Russia summed it up quite pragmatically - "A table has four legs and Messi can't be all four. All other legs are broken".
Latest news reports state that the players have taken upon themselves to select the team against Nigeria and that Sampaoli is no longer being spoken to regarding this. All of these situations are undesirable for a country hoping to win a World Cup.
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