Saviola: Give Messi time to decide about his international career
What's the story
Former Argentine footballer Javier Saviola has opened up regarding his views about Lionel Messi's future with the Argentine national team. Saviola feels Messi should be left alone and it should be up to him to decide whether he wants to continue with the national team or not. Messi was not a part of the Argentina squad during the recent international break. Further details follow.
Comments
Saviola's comments on Messi
Saviola said that though it is common knowledge that Argentina did not play well in the World Cup, the blame should not be put on Messi entirely. "Hopefully, he will come back but if it is otherwise, it will be his personal choice," said the Olympic gold medalist. Messi returned from his retirement and helped Argentina to qualify for the World Cup this term.
Finals
Messi's Argentina have lost three finals
It is clear that Argentina did gain from Messi's talent, as under him they qualified for numerous international finals. They participated in 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals, and also qualified for the 2014 World Cup final, but somehow they were not been able to overcome the final hurdle. It remains to be seen whether Messi will don the La Albiceleste jersey again.
Performance
Saviola believes Argentina did not play like a team
Saviola believes that Argentina at the 2018 World Cup were not playing as a team. According to him, "Argentina have a lot of talented players who play for the best clubs in the world but to do well at a major competition you need to be a real team". Poor team selections by then-coach Sampaoli was also criticized by pundits.