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World Cup: Things which Argentina and Messi are doing wrong
23 Jun 2018
Argentina came into the World Cup 2018 after having scraped past the Qualifiers on the final day when a hat-trick by Lionel Messi downed Ecuador.
Everyone knew that Argentina remain over dependent on Messi.
And that has been a low point in their sorry campaign so far.
Messi doesn't look at his best and neither do Argentina.
Here are the things which went wrong.
Messi was hardly involved against Croatia
Involvement
Argentina suffered a massive blow after Croatia decimated them 3-0 on Thursday.
Messi was hardly involved in that game.
The Barcelona star touched the ball only 49 times in 90 minutes.
Croatia stood tall in defense and for Argentina which lead their attack through Messi, it made them look predictable.
Messi wandered all night and never picked up the pocket of space.
Argentina players haven't helped Messi
No help
Sampaoli's 3-4-3 formation against Croatia did not work and Messi was never allowed to attack with defenders closing him down all night.
He did not have a single shot on target.
Moreover, Argentina's dodgy mid-field and chaotic defense didn't help the cause either.
There were tired legs everywhere and lack of creativity.
Against Iceland, as well, it was a similar story.
Body language of Messi not at its best
Messi
Messi had a big opportunity to help his side beat Iceland, but a second-half penalty miss saw the match end at 1-1.
This, in turn, got the better of Messi, who had a subdued demeanour ahead of the kick-off against Croatia.
Reports also suggested that the Argentine had locked himself in the hotel room earlier this week because he was left distraught.
What next for Messi and Argentina?
Fact
Messi is the 'messiah' of this Argentina team and the players need to be smart against Nigeria. Jorge Sampaoli has to get his formation right and play more direct. A lot depends on Messi and he will hope to take matter in his own hands.
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