Nizhniy Novgorod (Russia): Catastrophic, shocking, stunning, unbelievable – well the right word to describe Argentina’s meltdown against Croatia in the Group D encounter here Thursday will be hard to find. But no one can grudge the Croats who played a much superior brand of football to outwit the Albiceleste 3-0 at the Nizhniy Novgorod Stadium. It left the 10,000-odd Argentina fans shattered and in tears as their team suffered the worst group stage defeat in 60 years.
The presence of the legendary Diego Maradona in the VIP box did nothing to lift the Argentines who appeared jaded and disconnected from one another. The much-vaunted Lionel Messi on whom Argentine hopes rested could not make his presence felt. How could he, when only his shadow roamed around the ground aimlessly?
Second half goals from Ante Rebic, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic sealed Croatia’s spot in the knockouts after 1998. They deserved it and could have won by a bigger margin had not Mario Mandzukic headed wide a glorious ball from Modric in the first half. But what they could not do in the first, they did it precision in the second.
Jorge Sampaoli’s strategy also left much to be desired. He reverted to the 3-5-2 formation which meant that there was constant pressure on the defenders. The trio of Nicolas Otamendi, Gabriel Mercado and Nicolas Tagliafico were too slow for the speedy Croatian attackers with Rakitic, Rebic and Mandzukic running rings around them. They were well-supported by midfielders Dejan Lovren and Ivan Strinic who controlled the middle third of the pitch with great efficiency. And with Javier Mascherano and Eduardo Silva to slow to fall back and help the defenders, Argentina always looked suspect in the defensive third.
The axing of Angel Di Maria made left wing play non-existent and it paved the way for the Croatians to play with their regular attacking flair. The substitution of Sergio Aguero with Gonzalo Higuain can also be debated because Maradona’s son-in-law was at least putting some pressure on the Croat defence. Higuain, once he came in, could do nothing except running sideways and in football one has to go forward to score.
Now back to the Messi. In the fast half, he touched the ball 22 times, in the second probably lesser. A former Argentine player – Mario Kempes – had an important observation to make. “Mascherano touched the ball more than Messi. It shouldn’t have happened because Messi is the creator and Mascherano the recuperator. When a player like Mascherano has more of the ball, then it is definitely crisis time for Argentina.
Amid all this Willy Cabellaro made the silliest of blunders to hand the lead to Croatia. His attempted chip clearance ballooned in front of Rebic, who gratefully accepted the offer and volleyed home. Then came the Nordic goal in the 80th minute – it had Messi written all over it as – the Croatian unleashed a right-footed shot from about 25 yards and it crashed into the left-hand corner of the net – something which the Argentine usually does with his left foot. Rakitic’s goal can just be called either as the icing on the cake or adding insult to injury.
After the match, Messi’s forlorn, sad and painful expression said it all. The Argentine captain disappeared down the tunnel without the customary handshake with the rivals. It told a story of its own – that Messi has realised his dreams of winning a World Cup winner’s medal will remain a dream only.
Now to that eternal debate of Messi-Maradona comparison. Well after Thursday’s game the discussion should be put to bed. Players become legends when they make the world their stage. Messi has made the club domain his stage on a number of occasions, he is hero there. But there also he will now have to face a test with the great Andres Iniesta having departed from Barcelona.
Maradona single-handedly won the World Cup for his country and also made history of sorts when he led Napoli (then among the lower rung clubs in Italy) the Serie A champions. When teammates failed he rose to the occasion and pulled up the Albiceleste with his sheer genius.
Messi will always remain an eternal second-best to Maradona unless he wins something for the country. Messi may be the idol, but Maradona will always be Argentina’s ‘Hand of God’.
No denying that.