Croatia beat Messi’s Argentina 3-0

The team has to back the captain ,especially if he is such an exceptional player as Lionel Messi is. Football is a team effort and individual brilliance can prove futile as the match between Messi’s Argentina and Croatia revealed today.

“Why can’t you get your players to pass the ball to Lionel Messi?”

This was the question posed to the Argentine coach Jorge Sampaaoli after the match. The Argentine media lambasted the coach and stated that 40 million Argentines hold him responsible. The coach was also criticised in the news conference for picking goalkeeper Willy Caballero who made a grave mistake to allow Croatia an early lead, for substituting Sergio Aguero and changing his starting formation to 3-4-3.

Reality of squad clouds Messi’s brilliance, says coach

“Leo is limited because the team doesn’t gel ideally with him as it should,” said coach Sampaoli. I would beg fans for their forgiveness. I am responsible.”

Argentina are not out of the World Cup yet – they could still qualify with victory over Nigeria in their final group game next. But the effectiveness of the team is suspect after these two matches.