According to Argentinian World Cup winning coach Lionel Scaloni, Lionel Messi has now surpassed football legend Maradona as the greatest of all time.
Messi over Maradona for Scaloni
Scaloni stated on a radio station earlier that if he had to choose one, he would choose Messi. He said that he had something special with him. Then he went on to push his limits and say that Messi was the best of all time, although he thought Maradona was also great.
However, Argentinian people and fans alike have preferred Maradona over Lionel Messi for a long time. But their attitudes toward the ex-Barcelona icon have been shifting ever since he led Argentina to their first ever World Cup victory in 36 years, the last victory being owed to Maradona.
Scaloni also went on to reveal that after he was named Argentina’s new coach in 2018, he preferred having conversation with Lionel Messi as he was on a break from international football after having a terrible run at the World Cup in Russia.
Scaloni on coaching Messi
He revealed that the first thing they did was having a video call with Lionel Messi where he said that he was honoured and the first thing he said to him was “come back, we will wait for you”. In the end, he did wait and eight months after that, he came back and found an incredible group waiting.
Scaloni took forward his favouritism for Messi and added that coaching Messi was not a difficult task. He said that although Messi could not be corrected on a technical level, but sometimes he could be instructed to press or attacked in a certain way.
Scaloni said that Messi was a kind of player, who whenever smelt blood, he becomes the number one.
Scaloni also went on to defend another favourite, Emiliano Martinez the goalkeeper after being heavily criticized by the international football community owing to his controversial celebrations and attack on Kylian Mbappe, the French superstar.
“There are attitudes which he will not be happy with, but he is a spectacular guy. He is like a child. He is an incredible guy, his personality has given so much to the group,” Scaloni said.
