Olaleye Idowu
Chile legend Arturo Vidal has named Lionel Messi as the most important player Argentina has.
He said this while discussing the 2016 Copa América and how Chile planned to defeat Argentina.
The final of that year’s competition was between Argentina and Chile.
Vidal said there were plans to stop Messi, who, according to him, remains Argentina’s most important player.
The former Inter Milan man said the idea was to close down on Messi every time the Barça legend got the ball and not to give him any space.
Speaking on the ‘A dos cámaras’ YouTube channel, Vidal pointed out that Messi’s ability to beat multiple players to score goals was the reason many players had to mark him out.
He said, via BolaVIP, “What we were clear about was that when Leo had the ball, every close player had to come up to help press him. Why? Because we knew that he was the most important player that Argentina had.
“And he is the only one who can leave you alone, he can go against one, two or three. He can go to three and score a goal.”
He said the team had to focus on their plan, which was to mark the Inter Miami forward out and prevent him from making his next move.
He said their plans also included fouling the former Paris Saint-Germain forward whenever they failed to get the ball from him.
Urban Express News recalls that the game ended 0-0 at full time and Chile went on to beat Argentina 4-2 on a penalty shootout.
