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Signs That Lionel Messi Is Finally Thriving with Argentina
Published: September 17, 2013
Few will feel greater joy than the Barcelona phenomenon, who for years battled with allegations that the national team was not his priority.
The unkind suggestion, which circulated Buenos Aires in 2009 when Messi pulled out of a friendly against the Catalan national team, that he would feel happier playing for Argentina's opponents is just an example of the criticism that surrounded him in recent years. Calling the world's best player an underachiever or failure was clearly unjustified, but successive Argentine coaches failed to get the best out of their gem.
As a point of comparison, under Alfio Basile and Diego Maradona in the 2010 qualifying phase, Lio hit the net four times. In that year's World Cup and the 2011 Copa America, the star went home both times at the quarter-final stage without troubling the scorers.
His teamwork and approach play was as diligent as ever, but the prodigious conversion rate he enjoyed in Camp Nou vanished once pulling on the blue and white of his nation. That is, until Alejandro Sabella took over.
The ex-Estudiantes coach, unlike the tactical kamikaze duo of Maradona and Sergio Batista's Barcelona-lite pretensions, knew how Argentina could play and win. First and foremost, if Messi was marked by three men every time Argentina took possession, what was the sense in using him as a conventional playmaker?
The key was fast breaks, leaving Messi further upfield and using the likes of Fernando Gago, Angel di Maria and Sergio Aguero to make the difference on the counter. This rapid shift from the back leaves defences unorganised and ripe for the...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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