Lionel Messi let himself down – failure to call out Argentina is an insult to football

Lionel Messi has come under fire for failing to condemn Argentina’s physical approach during the World Cup.

The South Americans were at the centre of various controversies during the tournament due to perceived over-physical tactics resulting in a number of tense confrontations.

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Argentina have long adopted football’s dark arts in a bid to gain a psychological advantage over their opponents.

And that’s despite historically producing some of world football’s greatest-ever talents.

Lionel Scaloni’s men were far from their best at the World Cup, often relying on the Messi’s wizardry to pull themselves out of the mire.

They were taken to extra time by minnows Cape Verde in the round of 32 before a miraculous late turnaround against Egypt in the last 16.

They were taken to extra time once more in an ill-tempered quarter-final with Switzerland before breaking English hearts in a frantic final ten minutes to book their spot in the final.

But it was the 1-0 defeat against Spain in the final where ten-man Argentina showed themselves in a negative light.

Enzo Fernandez was given his marching orders in the second half before teammates Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes were seen manhandling multiple Spain players after the final whistle.

Their classless antics continued into the trophy presentation where all but one Argentina player turned their backs on Spain’s trophy lift.

Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino cast his expert eye over Argentina’s fortunes during the World Cup and expressed his disappointment at the incidents.

While Messi opted to distance himself from the on-field controversies, Cascarino believes the 39-year-old should have addressed the behaviour of his teammates in his post-World Cup Instagram post thanking fans for their support.

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Lack of leadership

“They’ve got some really good players in their squad,” Cascarino said on the Sports Breakfast.

“I was a bit disappointed in Lionel Messi if I’m honest about not actually reacting to the way they played.

“Because he’s been the highest [best] player I could ever think of – top notch.

“And would Johan Cruyff have accepted the Netherlands playing that way?

“No, he wouldn’t have, he wouldn’t have accepted it as the great player that he was, and there’s other greats along the way.

“I was surprised that Lionel Messi didn’t sort of say, ‘Hey, look, physicality is part of our game, but we’ve got a lot of talent and we should have shown a bit more of that.’

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“Now I know that won them the game against England.

“But I just felt that he’s been that good, is he comfortable with Argentina really playing that way?”

Messi broke down in tears after Argentina’s World Cup final defeat.

The Inter Miami star is expected to call time on his international career following 207 caps and 125 goals for La Albiceleste.

In a heartfelt post to his 515 million Instagram followers, he wrote:”The pain is immense, and it will take time for this wound to heal. But I also choose to hold on to all the good things … the matches we played, giving everything we had, will stay in our memories forever.

“With the support of an entire country, together with the hard work and effort of this group, we once again managed to be among the best teams in the world.

“Today it’s difficult to fully appreciate what we achieved, but this team reached two consecutive World Cup finals. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and every message.

“Once again, we came together as a country, united by immense pride of being Argentine. I also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.”