Messi is 'killing' Argentina?

(Baonghean.vn) - Without Messi due to suspension, the Argentina national team suffered a 0-2 defeat on Bolivia's field. And the prospect of Messi and his teammates having to stay home to watch the 2018 World Cup is gradually becoming a reality.

There is a familiar saying: “Success or failure depends on Messi”, to express the importance of the 1987-born star to FC Barcelona for nearly a decade. But in his hometown team Argentina, Messi’s influence is even more terrible.

With his talent and influence, Messi is becoming the “nanny” of the Tango team. Every time the striker wearing the number 10 shirt appears on the field, the teammates around him have no choice but to wait for the captain to shine. Messi plays well, Argentina wins. And vice versa.

The statistics don't lie: In 14 matches in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in South America, Argentina won 6 matches and Messi appeared in 5 matches; in 8 matches without a win (lost 4, drew 4), Messi only participated in 1 match (lost 0-3 to Brazil). In a total of 6 matches, Messi scored 4 goals and 2 assists, including 2 matches that directly brought 6 points (Argentina 1-0 Uruguay, Argentina 1-0 Chile). Just those brief statistics alone show how important Messi's role is to the Argentina national team.

Argentina players collapsed against Bolivia on the day star Messi received a penalty from FIFA. Photo: Internet

Once again, we must mention the two sides of the same problem. Because of Messi's great influence, the Argentine national team with a series of superstars in the squad became a one-man team. Higuain, Aguero... were so excellent in Europe when they returned to the national team, they were just a pale shadow of themselves.

However, with Messi on the field, even if his teammates play below their level, the Barcelona star can still bring about favorable results for his team. The scariest thing is that whenever Messi is absent, Argentina turns into a pale, harmless team. The losses to weaker opponents such as Paraguay, Ecuador and most recently Bolivia have proven that sad fact.

Equally damaging is that Argentina’s head coaches since the 2010 World Cup have stuck to a simple strategy of building a style of play around Messi. To put it bluntly, the way the Tango dancers played under the reigns of Batista, Sabella, Tata Martino, and Bauza was for the Argentine players to simply pass the ball to Messi so that this star could lead the game, dribble, create, and score.

All 10 players on the field just waited for the 1987-born striker to shine. It is not an exaggeration to say that the current Argentina national team is one of the teams with the most monotonous playing style among the "giants" of world football.

It seemed that Tango fans had accepted the reality of "Messi carrying the team alone" and entrusted this star with the task of bringing Argentina to the 2018 World Cup, but disaster struck. A 4-match suspension from FIFA prevented Messi from participating in matches against Bolivia, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Peru.

With the 0-2 defeat in La Paz by their teammates in the 14th round, Argentina has dropped to 5th place (a position that has to play a play-off with another regional representative) and is only 2 points ahead of 6th place Ecuador. With the form they have been in recently, even a place in the play-off match is difficult to guarantee.

Things would have been better for Argentina after the 1-0 victory over their direct opponent Chile because the remaining journey in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in South America would not have been too difficult for the Tango dancers if Messi had been in the squad.

However, just a moment of uncontrolled anger in the match against Chile put the home team in a dangerous situation. Few people expected a quiet, gentle player like Messi to have such contemptuous words towards the assistant referee in a situation that was not worth discussing and to receive such serious consequences.

The situation where Messi was accused of insulting the assistant referee in the match against Chile. Photo: Internet

“First blame yourself, then blame others”, Messi and his fans can complain about FIFA’s decision but Messi himself should reflect on his inappropriate behavior. In the most important stage of Argentina’s national team in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, letting such an incident happen will greatly affect the team’s ability to participate in the biggest football festival on the planet next summer.

Messi’s absence will leave the Tango dancers in a “headless snake” situation. If the Argentina team cannot go to Russia in June 2018, Messi will be one of the culprits causing that tragedy.

Of course, everything cannot be blamed on the Barcelona star, because the responsibility of the Argentine Football Federation (AFA), head coach Bauza and the remaining members is not small./.

Thanh Hung