quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
Why would they lack hunger and motivation? This is a team that has lost three consecutive international finals, that has repeatedly fallen agonisingly short of ending Argentina's 25 year wait for an international trophy. It's a team with one of the very best players to ever kick a ball, a player who is desperate to confirm his legacy with international success. Why would this team have any reason to be complacent? |
You just answered your own question. It can be damaging psychologically and draining for a team to reach consecutive finals and just don't win any only for the whole process to be repeated again and again, which was one factor why they struggled to qualify earlier to the WC. Brazil has not had the difficulties Argentina has had in recent years. There's a reason why Simeone refused to coach this team. There's a reason the Argentine soccer association, AFA, has had three changes recently.
Messi has never said he was desperate to prove his legacy with international success. He has done that already on the club level and to many that's more than enough. If anything, that pressure of being a protagonist with Argentina has been a detrimental factor from the beginning for Messi. I don't think there has been any other player with more pressure from his people and from other fans than Messi in recent international competition.
Messi, in my opinion, did a great job with what he had, which was poor AFA organizations, mediocre coaches with no clear system and/or set of players and players who most of the time just relied on him to carry them, all the time--who couldn't even do the small things like kicking a ball in. Do you actually think he needs to win a world cup to cement his legacy? The man has done a lot and, the way I look at it, football needs for Messi to win a world cup. Argentina are desperate for him to win a world cup.
But he needs a strong AFA, a reliable coach, a good set of players who are not necessarily his friends. All of them also need to want to win the championship.
There were favorites coming in because it was a similar backdrop to the one they had four years ago and Messi made it work then. But fatigue of repeating the whole process again might be why Messi was just not moving at all this last game.
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