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How Maradona blew Lionel Messi’s World Cup dream

By Nishant Narayanan

A dejected Lionel Messi of Argentina at the final whistle during the 2014 World Cup (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
A dejected Lionel Messi of Argentina at the final whistle during the 2014 World Cup (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /
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Argentina's coach Diego Maradona (R) speaks to Argentina's striker Lionel Messi (Photo credit JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)
Argentina’s coach Diego Maradona (R) speaks to Argentina’s striker Lionel Messi (Photo credit JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images) /

Shockingly, with the many players being given chances to secure their spot in the final squad, it was the players that had the least amount of appearances that made the cut. Maradona’s personal bias towards certain players along with his misjudgment of existing players resulted in some of the most controversial picks for the players who made the cut.

Ariel Garce, is one such case where the then 30-year-old got selected due to Maradona’s personal liking for the player despite Garce making just one appearance for the squad. The Argentine coach had a dream where Argentina won the World Cup and the one face he remembers from that dream was Garce’s, which resulted in his inclusion.

The 30-man list also included a 36-year-old striker, Martín Palermo, despite already having 4 strikers in the squad in Diego Milito, Sergio Agüero, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuaín. On top of that, the three chosen goalkeepers, Diego Pozo (3), Mariano Andujar (4), and Sergio Romero (6), had 13 appearances in total shared among them.

Though the many controversial selections prove Maradona’s personal opinions resulting in his coaching failures, it is the players that he failed to pick that truly display his failure as a manager. The creative powerhouse of Leo and Riquelme was broken after the latter withdrew from the Argentina squad after being offended by the words of coach Maradona, which left behind a huge hole in the team’s creative attacking movements.

"“I saw him at Boca the other day and I don’t know if he’s got physical problems, but he’s no good like that,” Diego said. Source Goal."

On top of that, the exclusion of two Inter Milan’s treble-winning superstar, Esteban Cambiasso, and Javier Zanetti, was the perfect recipe for disaster. The reason for the omission of two world-class footballers has never been justified to this date.