Messi’s former coach explains how Leo overcame his failures with Argentina: ‘It was a huge burden’

Lionel Messi endured years of criticism and frustration with Argentina until the titles started coming in, beginning with the 2021 Copa America. Now, a former coach of the national team has revealed the key reason behind that shift.

Argentina went 28 years without winning an official title, from 1993 to 2021. This period obviously included a significant portion of Lionel Messi‘s career, during which he had to endure failures and harsh criticism for nearly two decades. That all changed with the 2021 Copa America victory, followed by three more titles. Now, a former coach of the national team has revealed the reason why everything changed.

“I believe that Messi’s comfort during the Qatar World Cup has a lot to do with a new generation of players that came in. They had much more potential to compete than we did before,” said Jorge Sampaoli, who coached Argentina during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, in a recent interview with Globo Esporte.

“Messi even decided to quit the Argentina national team because it was a huge burden,” Sampaoli recalled, referring to a brief period when Lionel distanced himself from the national team after losing the 2016 Copa America final.

The 65-year-old coach then explained the contrast between Messi’s performances during those tough times and his current form. “When he feels free, he allows himself to dream, he’s motivated, and he makes a difference, whether it’s with Argentina or at the club where he plays,” Sampaoli said. “He’s the greatest of all time, especially because of the longevity of his career.”

How Argentina have changed in recent years

Jorge Sampaoli emphasized the traits of this new generation of Argentina players as a major difference from the ones he coached during his tenure. This transformation was driven by the departure of older players such as Sergio Romero, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Biglia, Ever Banega, Sergio Aguero, and Gonzalo Higuain, and the arrival of a new group.

However, many of the stars who are now part of Argentina’s successful cycle under Lionel Scaloni were already in a position to join the team during Sampaoli’s coaching tenure. In fact, players like Leandro Paredes, Giovani Lo Celso, and Lautaro Martinez were called up by him, although they were later left out. Others, like Emiliano Martinez and Rodrigo De Paul, were of the right age to be considered but were not included at the time.

Argentina’s failure in the 2018 World Cup

Jorge Sampaoli led Argentina to one of their worst World Cup performances in recent decades. They started the tournament by drawing with Iceland and losing 3-0 to Croatia. Argentina came within minutes of being eliminated in the group stage until a goal from Marcos Rojo helped them defeat Nigeria.

In the Round of 16, they faced France in a memorable clash that ended with a 4-3 victory for the Europeans. While the loss to the eventual champions was understandable, the overall performance of the team during the tournament drew heavy criticism for Sampaoli.

“I would do it differently. Sometimes you make mistakes more often than you get things right,” he admitted in his interview with Globo Esporte. “It was the opportunity to coach my country’s national team. But of course, we got the diagnosis wrong, and we got the solution to what was happening wrong… So, you make bad decisions, and you end up being part of the problem or making it worse. I think that’s what happened there.”

Credit: Bolavip US