Coach Jorge Sampaoli defends skipper after team's 0-3 loss to Croatia; says players don't rally around him.
Jorge Sampaoli has admitted Lionel Messi is limited by the current Argentina team, with the two-time World Cup winners facing possible early elimination after a 0-3 loss to Croatia. The 1978 and 1986 champions could fail to make it out of their group in Russia having picked up just one point from their opening two games following Thursday night's defeat against the Croatians, who have progressed to the last 16.
Ante Rebic opened the scoring with a second-half volley that was set up by Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero's error before midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic added late strikes. Once again Messi, who had a penalty saved in the draw with Iceland last weekend, was largely anonymous in a tournament where his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo is leading the way to be top scorer.
Sampaoli was asked about comparisons between the two in his post-match press conference and conceded that Messi's performances are being hindered by those around him. "I think that because of the reality of the Argentine squad, it sort of clouds Leo's brilliance," he said. "Leo is limited because the team doesn't gel ideally with him as it should. As coaches we need to realise these things and try to deal with them. I'm the one that needs to accept it."
Croatia had been handed the lead by Caballero's blunder as he chipped straight to Rebic to emphatically fire in. Sampaoli had decided to choose Chelsea's second-choice stopper between the sticks once Manchester United's Sergio Romero had been ruled out through injury, and the Argentina boss refused to lay the blame at Caballero's door. "The key to our defeat relates to my responsibility because I'm the coach," he stressed.
Sampaoli was asked if he felt ashamed and embarrassed by his nation's heaviest World Cup group stage loss since 1958. "I definitely feel pain," he replied. "As a coach it's been a long time since I've gone through this experience and obviously it's much more painful when I'm wearing the jersey of my country. Our plan for this match didn't work out. There's pain because we weren't at the level the Argentina people expected of us."