#3: Going MIA for Argentina
Trending
While Ronaldo has suffered from accusations of being a flat-track bully, the same criticism hasn’t been fired at Messi because he usually delivers no matter what for Barcelona. For Argentina though – especially in the World Cup - it’s another story.
His first World Cup appearance came in 2006 but realistically he was very raw at that point and while he scored against Serbia and Montenegro, he didn’t really play a big part and was left on the bench as Argentina were eliminated by Germany in the quarter-finals. 2010 was supposed to be his starring moment, but again he didn’t really rise to the occasion as Argentina again went out at the hands of Germany.
He had a built-in excuse that year, though – Diego Maradona was managing Argentina and clearly didn’t have the tactical nouse to guide a team to victory, even with the world’s best player in his ranks. 2014 then was meant to be different. Except it wasn’t.
Argentina made the final of the tournament in Brazil but were again beaten by those pesky Germans. And while Messi captained the side, he certainly never lit the tournament up like other players, only really starring in a tricky win over Iran that saw him score an injury-time winner. But that’s Iran!
Somehow Messi was still awarded Player of the Tournament despite Colombia’s James Rodriguez clearly deserving the title, and most saw it as a marketing ploy at best.
