World-Messi not sole recipe for success, says Heinze

Reuters - 20 hours ago

By Rex Gowar
PRETORIA, June 9 (Reuters) - A brilliant World Cup for Lionel Messi would be good for Argentina's chances of victory although it is preferable to rely on the team and not one man however great, according to defender Gabriel Heinze.

"I personally think it's the team that makes you win these very difficult championships," Heinze said three days before Argentina's opening Group B match against Nigeria.

"Lionel is the best in the world, the player who today is in his best form, but Argentina do not depend on Lionel," the battle-hardened 32-year-old told a news conference.

"Argentina depend on each one of the players who go onto the pitch. We don't need to put any pressure on Lio or anyone," he said after a team practice.

"We all lose and we all win (together) and Lio is one more (among us), it's impressive what he does but he's a human being and people forget he can have good days and bad days.

"Let's hope he has them all good for the good of Argentina. I hope the team is the star of the World Cup," said Heinze, like Messi a member of the Argentina squad that reached the quarter-finals in Germany in 2006.

Argentina meet Nigeria at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday (1400 GMT) with Messi tipped to inspire the team to victory and seal his place as the greatest player of his generation.

Much will depend, however, on whether coach Diego Maradona, criticised during a poor qualifying campaign last year, has managed to mould a team during two weeks of tightly guarded preparations at their University of Pretoria bunker.

Heinze said the outcome of the tournament would tell what kind of coach Maradona, who had little experience to speak of when the took the job in late 2008, was.

"It's down to us players whether he's a good coach or not. Hopefully at the end of this championship Maradona will have been the best coach."

(Editing by Justin Palmer)

Maradona: Messi is better than me

Argentina coach Diego Maradona claimed Lionel Messi’s impact in 2010 World Cup finals will be greater than his in Mexico 1986.

Maradona was easily the most outstanding player in Mexico and has now instructed Messi to follow in his footsteps by leading Argentina to their victorious third World Cup next month.

Speaking to Sport he said: "Messi is better than me at World Cup '86. He's the best player in the world and better by far compared to others.

"In 86, in Mexico, I did it with the ball, I grew up and my team-mates followed. Now I have explained the same to Leo to do it in South Africa and he has understood."

He went on to admit that he wanted everything to go through Messi in the finals next month.

"It is fortunate that Leo was born in Argentina and I can train him. Whoever does not want to understand that, that it is their problem.

"Messi is well aware that colleagues expect him to be the icing on the cake.

"He has to be the leader with the ball. We need him to lead by example in the squad and on the pitch.

"He has to be the leader of the ball. When we play football and the ball does not pass through Messi, then ball goes through me but I cannot move so then we are going wrong."

From ESPN STAR.com