Lionel Messi’s last stand

Lionel Messi leads Argentina on a quest for the country’s third World Cup. Will he finally get out from under the shadow of Diego Maradona and lift the trophy?

Argentina have a rich soccer past, but it’s the future everyone is worried about. The current side have lost three straight finals in major competitions over the past four years. All that failure hasn’t been good for morale. This is a team capable of winning it all in Russia and of flopping under the immense pressure of such a challenge.

The loss to Germany in the World Cup final four years ago in Brazil, followed by two straight defeats to Chile in the 2015 Copa America and Copa America Centenario in the United States, are signs this team can go far, yet buckle under pressure when they need to squeeze out a victory. In fairness, all three games were close: Germany won the World Cup 1-0 in extra time, while both Copa America finals were decided on penalties.

While Argentina limped through qualifying last year they’re always on the short-list of favorites entering a World Cup. The Albiceleste didn’t punch their ticket until their final qualifier, a 3-1 win at Ecuador thanks to a Lionel Messi hat-trick, which led many to doubt whether this team can really challenge for the title.

“Winning the World Cup is a huge personal challenge for me, for the group [of players Argentina have] and for the country, who have the same dreams as us,” Messi told Argentine TV network El Trece. “It’s a nice responsibility to represent a whole country at a World Cup. I would swap a title with Barcelona for one with the national team. While I want to win things again with my club, I want to win something with the national team. I know it would be special for what it means, to be [World Cup] champions with Argentina would be different to everything, it would be something unique.”

The team’s dependence on Messi is a reflection of a lack of depth, their recent 4-0 rout of Haiti on the back of another Messi hat-trick just the latest example. Under manager Jorge Sampaoli, appointed toward the end of the qualifying cycle, little has changed. Add to that the pressure on the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to finally add a World Cup to his crowded trophy case of club titles and it’s a recipe for drama in Russia.

Messi’s supporting cast remains the big question mark. Diego Maradona was a great player, but had a strong team around him. Former Argentine striker Claudio Caniggia, who played alongside Maradona at the 1990 and ’94 World Cups, said Messi’s task is more difficult because he has a weaker supporting cast.

“Messi doesn’t get the same support from his teammates as Maradona did. I think that’s true,” Caniggia told FIFA’s official website.

Sampaoli’s 23-player roster isn’t exactly breathtaking, while the exclusion of Inter Milan’s Mauro Icardi and the inclusion of just two strikers, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero, could limit Sampaoli’s attacking options in a group which also features Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria. In a World Cup that features a mostly-balanced first round, many consider it the Group of Death.

This is not a young roster (15 of the 23 players Sampaoli picked will have surpassed the age of 30 by the time the tournament comes to an end), but not necessarily one that features experienced players at senior level. Examples of that include 31-year-old defender Cristian Ansaldi and 26-year-old midfielder Maximiliano Meza. The two had just six caps combined on senior level on May 21, the day Sampaoli named his World Cup team.

A day after the roster was announced in Buenos Aires, starting goalkeeper Sergio Romero was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury. The Manchester United keeper suffered the injury in practice and was removed from the roster as the team trained ahead of their World Cup opener on June 16 against Iceland. Making things worse, the team’s backup goalkeeper the past two years, Nahuel Guzman, was originally left off the squad.

This being Argentine soccer, even what should have been a routine squad change wasn’t short on drama. After Guzman failed to make the cut of three goalkeepers, his father posted a photo on social media featuring Sampaoli in a Chile jersey. This triggered an awkward moment once Guzman was called in as Romero’s replacement.

There are problems in many other areas on the field that should add to the dressing room drama. While the attack looks strong on paper with Messi flanked by Aguero, Higuain and Angel Di Maria, there are some concerns. Higuain has often come up short in big games before for the national team. If he does again, Icardi’s absence will surely become a talking point.

In addition, Sampaoli’s 3-3-1-3 is attack-minded, but his high-line approach has often left the defense at risk of being too exposed. This is where Ansaldi, who can play both on the left and right, is supposed to come up big. Left off the team was Fabricio Bustos, a 22-year-old right-back who had started in two recent friendlies against Italy and Spain. That last game, a 6-1 rout in Madrid, encapsulated fears this is a team in need of much improvement in a very short space of time. While teams like Germany and Brazil have settled on a style, Argentina are still trying to settle on an approach weeks ahead of the tournament.

Negatives aside, both Messi and Aguero are fit and enter the World Cup in peak condition. For Messi especially, the ability for Barcelona to wrap up La Liga’s title early meant he had to play fewer high-stakes matches at the end of the domestic season.

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“Physically, he is in a very good moment,” Sampaoli told reporters. “Having won the league early helped him rest. He will arrive without any sort of problem to the World Cup.”

Aguero, meanwhile, is finally free of pain in his right knee, an injury that plagued him for much of this season at Manchester City.

“If we truly show how we can play, we will be a difficult opponent for anyone,” Sampaoli said.

The Albiceleste could very well win the World Cup, their first since Maradona led the team to the title in ’86. That would also perhaps allow Messi, who has conquered all at club level for Barcelona, to reach Maradona’s status in his home country.

Defender Javier Mascherano, who will retire from the national team at the end of the World Cup, told Argentine sports network Depor TV that Russia 2018 “will be the last great opportunity” for his team, although there’s a very real chance things could go wrong again.

“We are enthusiastic as we have another opportunity … to get second chances,” he said. “We have played well in the past and have reached finals, so we have to use that experience to our advantage at this World Cup. One has to understand that at times your wishes don’t come true.”