Diego Armando Maradona blasted the Argentina squad and Coach Jorge Sampaoli for their dismal World Cup, hoping there was “a punch-up in the locker room.”
The former Napoli legend did not hold back in his criticism after a 1-1 draw with Iceland and 3-0 defeat to Croatia.
“I feel great pain, because those who wore that jersey cannot see the Seleccion massacred by a team that is not Brazil, not Spain, not Germany and not Holland,” said Maradona on Telesur.
Diego Armando Maradona blasted the Argentina squad and Coach Jorge Sampaoli for their dismal World Cup, hoping there was “a punch-up in the locker room.”
The former Napoli legend did not hold back in his criticism after a 1-1 draw with Iceland and 3-0 defeat to Croatia.
“I feel great pain, because those who wore that jersey cannot see the Seleccion massacred by a team that is not Brazil, not Spain, not Germany and not Holland,” said Maradona on Telesur.
“I have this anger inside that defies definition. First of all, I blame the President of the Federation, Claudio Tapia. There are people in charge who don’t know anything about football and they left Argentina stranded.
“Everyone thought Sampaoli would resolve the problems with his computers, drones, 14 assistants and 25 sparring partners… Instead Argentina don’t know how to play football and have no options for any area of the field. They don’t create chances, don’t win tackles, never have the ball under control.”
There has been criticism of Messi in the Argentine media, but Maradona leapt to his defence.
“He didn’t play the way he could’ve done, but his teammates never passed him the ball and it’s difficult to resolve everything by yourself.”
Goalkeeper Willy Caballero’s howler to open the Croatia rout came up for particular vitriol.
“It was a disaster on the world stage. That too is also the fault of the Coach, who picks someone who never plays at club level, keeping out Armani after a great season.
“We are the problem, not our opponents. I’d love to know if there was a punch-up in the locker room or not. If it didn’t happen, it’s because they don’t have the cojones. If someone needed to put an ice-pack on their face afterwards, that’s all good.”