Diego Maradona Jr. has insisted that those who make comparisons between his father and Lionel Messi ”don’t understand football”.
Argentina stunned by Saudi ArabiaMaradona Jr. dismisses Messi comparisonsReflects on ‘crazy’ World Cup upset
WHAT HAPPENED? Argentina’s 36-match run unbeaten came to an abrupt halt when Saudi Arabia battled back from a goal down to stun Lionel Scaloni’s men 2-1 in their World Cup group stage clash. Although Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot, he did not have the desired impact on the match and failed to prevent the Albiceleste from slipping to a humiliating defeat. The son of Argentina icon Maradona has spoken out about Messi in the wake of the result, claiming he is not close to the level of his late father.
WHAT THEY SAID: “I’m devastated by Argentina’s defeat. I find it hard to believe that this actually happened. Losing to Saudi Arabia is crazy,” Maradona Jr. stated to Radio Marte. ”The comparison between Messi and my dad is made by those who don’t see and don’t understand football. We are talking about two different planets.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Maradona Jr. has, however, rejected the suggestion that Messi and Argentina took their opponents too lightly on the grandest of stages. “I don’t want to throw the cross at Lionel right away,” he added. ”Sometimes in football, it happens that you lose even against much weaker opponents. I don’t think Argentina was presumptuous today. Football is like that. If you don’t close the games, even the poorest teams will come at you.”
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WHAT NEXT FOR ARGENTINA? Scaloni’s side will aim to bounce back from their shock defeat when they take on Mexico this Saturday.
