The France squad shared the weight of expectation equally on their shoulders at this summer’s World Cup finals. However, the same was not true for Argentina. One man carried that burden alone: Lionel Messi.

Such was the mediocrity of their performances that not even the best soccer player in the world prevented an early exit from the tournament. And one man bore the brunt of the criticism.

Some were deserved: Messi’s penalty in the opening match against Iceland was poor and easily saved. His overall performances failed to meet his own high standards. Instead of inspiring his teammates, Messi found himself dragged down to their levels.

Inevitably, the player’s uneasy relationship with the Argentine public surfaced. Because Messi left his homeland as a youngster and never played professionally for an Argentinean club, he doesn’t have ‘club loyalty’ in the public psyche.

Instead, they see his Barcelona feats from a distance and expect him to achieve the same with the country. It has yet to happen. Carlos Tevez, a former Argentina player, urged Messi not to quit international soccer.

Speaking to ESPN, Tevez told Messi to think of himself, first and foremost. To succeed, he reasoned, the player must be happy. But he quickly added that it wasn’t all down to Messi. The rest of the squad and wider public has a role to play.

“We are wasting a lot of time not having him happy and not being able to give him a hand to achieve that target. I think we are wrong in not being able to help him feel comfortable.

“As a player and as an Argentine I tell him that we need him, that he tries to rest, that he keeps a cool head and that we need him. We need him because he is the soul of Argentina and, as long as he continues playing football, it has to be that way because he is Argentina’s biggest idol and he has to take that responsibility.

“Now [I tell him] to rest, keep a cool head and try to be well, then we need him to take charge and on the pitch.”

Only time will tell if those words are heeded.

The post “The Soul Of Argentina”: Lionel Messi Urged To Shelve Retirement Plans appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Argentina was one of the favorites to win the 2018 World Cup. Now two games into the tournament, it looks like they won’t even make it past the group stage.

After a surprising draw against Iceland, Argentina faced Croatia on Thursday night and everyone expected for this team to bounce back with a win. Instead, they suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat and now need lots of things to go right in order to advance into the second round.

The first half of the game was scoreless, with both teams having a couple of chances but playing a tough and physical game overall. The second half continued in the same fashion until the 53′ minute when Argentina’s Willy Caballero gifted the ball to Croatia’s Ante Rebic in front of his own goal and Rebic didn’t hesitate to put it into the back of the net. Argentina then pushed all of its chips to attack, but they just couldn’t find an answer to Croatia’s defense. Then in 80′ minute, Luka Modric scores a beautiful goal and ruined Argentina’s hopes that they can salvage something from this game, while Ivan Rakitic added one more in stoppage time and brought Croatia a convincing win which secured them a place in the knockout stage.

One of the biggest problems for Argentina was the inefficiency of Lionel Messi, who just couldn’t work out the way to outsmart the opponent’s defense.

“He is our captain, he leads the team and we quite simply couldn’t pass to him,” – said Argentina’s coach Jorge Sampaoli. “We work to give Leo the ball, but the opponent also works hard to prevent him from getting the ball.“

It turns out that this was Croatia’s plan all along.

“This result and Argentina’s poor display was due to our good game, our compact block all over the pitch, particularly when we didn’t have the ball,” – said team’s captain Luka Modric in his postgame news conference. “We cut off Messi, stopped him receiving the ball. He’s their most dangerous player.“

There are few scenarios in which Argentina could secure their place in the second round with a win against Nigeria in their last game. But, it doesn’t seem like they deserve it.

The post Argentina Suffers a 3-0 Defeat from Croatia at 2018 World Cup appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The France squad shared the weight of expectation equally on their shoulders at this summer’s World Cup finals. However, the same was not true for Argentina. One man carried that burden alone: Lionel Messi.

Such was the mediocrity of their performances that not even the best soccer player in the world prevented an early exit from the tournament. And one man bore the brunt of the criticism.

Some were deserved: Messi’s penalty in the opening match against Iceland was poor and easily saved. His overall performances failed to meet his own high standards. Instead of inspiring his teammates, Messi found himself dragged down to their levels.

Inevitably, the player’s uneasy relationship with the Argentine public surfaced. Because Messi left his homeland as a youngster and never played professionally for an Argentinean club, he doesn’t have ‘club loyalty’ in the public psyche.

Instead, they see his Barcelona feats from a distance and expect him to achieve the same with the country. It has yet to happen. Carlos Tevez, a former Argentina player, urged Messi not to quit international soccer.

Speaking to ESPN, Tevez told Messi to think of himself, first and foremost. To succeed, he reasoned, the player must be happy. But he quickly added that it wasn’t all down to Messi. The rest of the squad and wider public has a role to play.

“We are wasting a lot of time not having him happy and not being able to give him a hand to achieve that target. I think we are wrong in not being able to help him feel comfortable.

“As a player and as an Argentine I tell him that we need him, that he tries to rest, that he keeps a cool head and that we need him. We need him because he is the soul of Argentina and, as long as he continues playing football, it has to be that way because he is Argentina’s biggest idol and he has to take that responsibility.

“Now [I tell him] to rest, keep a cool head and try to be well, then we need him to take charge and on the pitch.”

Only time will tell if those words are heeded.

The post “The Soul Of Argentina”: Lionel Messi Urged To Shelve Retirement Plans appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Argentina was one of the favorites to win the 2018 World Cup. Now two games into the tournament, it looks like they won’t even make it past the group stage.

After a surprising draw against Iceland, Argentina faced Croatia on Thursday night and everyone expected for this team to bounce back with a win. Instead, they suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat and now need lots of things to go right in order to advance into the second round.

The first half of the game was scoreless, with both teams having a couple of chances but playing a tough and physical game overall. The second half continued in the same fashion until the 53′ minute when Argentina’s Willy Caballero gifted the ball to Croatia’s Ante Rebic in front of his own goal and Rebic didn’t hesitate to put it into the back of the net. Argentina then pushed all of its chips to attack, but they just couldn’t find an answer to Croatia’s defense. Then in 80′ minute, Luka Modric scores a beautiful goal and ruined Argentina’s hopes that they can salvage something from this game, while Ivan Rakitic added one more in stoppage time and brought Croatia a convincing win which secured them a place in the knockout stage.

One of the biggest problems for Argentina was the inefficiency of Lionel Messi, who just couldn’t work out the way to outsmart the opponent’s defense.

“He is our captain, he leads the team and we quite simply couldn’t pass to him,” – said Argentina’s coach Jorge Sampaoli. “We work to give Leo the ball, but the opponent also works hard to prevent him from getting the ball.“

It turns out that this was Croatia’s plan all along.

“This result and Argentina’s poor display was due to our good game, our compact block all over the pitch, particularly when we didn’t have the ball,” – said team’s captain Luka Modric in his postgame news conference. “We cut off Messi, stopped him receiving the ball. He’s their most dangerous player.“

There are few scenarios in which Argentina could secure their place in the second round with a win against Nigeria in their last game. But, it doesn’t seem like they deserve it.

The post Argentina Suffers a 3-0 Defeat from Croatia at 2018 World Cup appeared first on SportzBonanza.