If Lionel Messi is to fill the one glaring gap in his resume, Argentina need to get their act together.
Yes, Tuesdayâs loss to Spain was an outlier. Apart from no Messi, there was also no Paulo Dybala, no Sergio Aguero, no Angel di Maria â none of the star players whose names are always trotted out when Argentinaâs case for being among the favourites at an international tournament is being made.
But even as an outlier, a 6-1 scoreline is galling. There was enough quality in the team to avoid getting rolled over like that. Nicolas Otamendi, Gonzalo Higuain, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Biglia, Marcos Rojo, Ever Banega all started and subsequently saw their country suffer its joint-heaviest defeat.
The result highlighted the same inexplicable problem that has plagued Argentina this entire decade: Messi canât lift a side which still hasnât figured out how to play beyond the sum of its parts.
It shouldnât even have to â any team which has a selection dilemma of picking two out of Dybala, Aguero, Di Maria, Higuain, and Mauro Icardi to play with Messi should be tearing through opponents.
Nor is the team truly top-heavy, as the regular criticism goes. In Mascherano, Banega, Biglia, Otamendi, Rojo, and Gabriel Mercado, there is enough depth to make a serious run in the World Cup without relying solely on the talents of one man, even if that man is one trophy away from ending the debate as to who is the greatest player of all time.
Indeed, this is a team which made the last World Cup final and followed that up with two straight appearances in Copa America finals.
Yet, each time, Argentinaâs success in reaching the last hurdle was down to the efforts of Messi, with nobody else playing up to par. And each time, in the final, they came up against a team more well-oiled, more cohesive, more attuned to the concept of playing as a unit, and they lost. And there is nothing to suggest that the 2018 vintage will be any different.
Consider this: in 18 fixtures during qualifiers for this summerâs tournament, all that attacking talent managed 19 goals. Messi scored seven of those in 10 appearances. Three of those came in the final qualifier via a hat-trick â and without that, Argentina wouldnât even have qualified for the World Cup. The over-reliance on their talisman cannot be overstated.
Over-relying on Messi got them to the final in 2014 and had a few bounces gone their way against Germany that day, they would be world champions. Four years later, however, and the weaknesses which have plagued them then havenât been solved.
A new ânext Messiâ has been found but Dybala hasnât hit the heights of his club career for his country. Higuain hasnât been relied upon as a consistent scorer, after famous misses in tournament finals, despite his form at club level since. Aguero hasnât even been a guaranteed starter, depending on the formation used by whoever was coaching.
Current manager Jorge Sampaoli says the World Cup is like a gun pointed to Messiâs head in terms of the pressure it brings.
But the rest of the team is doing nothing to release that weight of expectation, and Tuesdayâs loss was the latest example. Spain found it too easy to retain possession, Argentina withered in the face of their opponentsâ press, and an utterly embarrassing result followed.
Put them against any of the other favourites for Russia, even at full strength, itâs difficult to see Argentina coming out on top. Brazil beat Argentina 3-0 during the qualifiers even with Messi on the pitch. Spain would back themselves to repeat Tuesdayâs performance against Argentinaâs first-choice midfield. Germany at their best look like a side in total control, as good as the 2010 Spain side that never let anyone else touch the ball.
And Germany showed in the 2014 final that there is a way to contain Messi. Unfortunately for La Albiceleste, until someone else on the team shows they can step up on the big occasion, that will be enough to derail their World Cup hopes.