Kolkata, Jul 18 (PTI) Globetrotting English manager Stephen Constantine ranks Pelé, Maradona, and Ronaldinho above Lionel Messi, saying the Argentine maestro is devastating on the ball, but his side effectively plays with 10 men without it because his teammates have to do the running and cover for him.
The 39-year-old has been at his vintage best with eight goals and four assists, almost single-handedly leading the side to a successive final with a stunning 1-2 combeback defeat of England.
In an interview to PTI from Rwanda where he’s the national team manager, the two-time former India coach said Messi’s magic works best with the Argentine support system.
“Messi is a wonderful player, one of the greatest, but the difference is that Argentina have six or seven players doing the running for him and getting him the ball,” he said.
“When he has the ball, he’s almost unstoppable. But without it, you’re effectively playing with 10 men because the others have to cover his work.
“Argentina do that brilliantly. So, yeah, no, no, for me, he’s not the best. He’s one of the best, but he’s not. I wouldn’t say he’s the best.” ‘Betting’ on Spain’ ============== Talking about Sunday’s high-voltage final at the MetLife Stadium, the 63-year-old backed Spain to lift the trophy, but added that Argentina’s experience, character and Messi’s match-winning ability make them a dangerous opponent.
“Well, I think it’s going to be close. If I was a betting man, which I’m not, but if I was, I think I would put my money on Spain to beat Argentina,” he said.
“But again, I thought England would be able to get past Argentina. So let’s see. It’s going to be a good final. These games are, I think, unpredictable.” Constantine’s observation came after Argentina recovered from a one-goal deficit to rattle England in the final 15 minutes for a 2-1 win.
On England’s heartbreak, Constantine said the team fell short of breaking their semifinal barrier despite showing character throughout the tournament.
“All of England are asking what went wrong. Obviously, it’s the third time that we’ve been in the semifinal in the last three World Cups. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be able to cross that line, to get to the final,” he said.
“But look, new coach, I think he did a decent job. You look at the games that England played, they showed great character against Mexico and against Norway. And I think the game with Argentina was always going to be very close.” “I was a little disappointed with how we gave away so many chances in the second half, especially in the last 20 minutes. It seemed inevitable that Argentina were going to score the winner. I think maybe we sat back a little bit too much. But the coach makes the choice he knows best, in my opinion.” Tuchel gets backing ============== Constantine backed England’s German coach Thomas Tuchel, whose defensive substitutions and decision to drop deeper after Anthony Gordon’s opener, has attracted widespread criticism.
“Sometimes you win games with substitutions, sometimes you lose. But unfortunately for England, we lost. Very disappointing, but this is football.” The former India coach also pointed to Argentina’s experience as a key difference on the night.
“You don’t always get what you want. If you look at Argentina in the last 20 minutes of this game and the previous game, the average age of their team is 30. They’ve all played in the World Cup several times before.” “There were a lot of England players playing for the first time. Although that’s not an excuse, I’m just trying to highlight how I think Argentina, at the end of the day, deserved to win that game, as much as that pains me to say.” Spain’s collective football ================== Talking about Spain, Constantine believes the biggest advantage is their ability to work collectively, with Rodri at the heart of their midfield.
“Rodri is a top player. And the difference with the Spanish side is that they will all run. They will all do the work.” “In Argentina, Messi is not going to be tracking back to mark players. He’s not going to win any headers. When you get him the ball, he’s fantastic, possibly unbeatable.” “But against a Spanish team where everybody’s going to be working very, very hard to get the ball and close Messi down, I think it’ll be a good game. I think Spain, they’re going to win this.” The Englishman also criticised the growing use of hydration breaks, saying they should only be introduced in extreme conditions.
“I’m also a little bit unhappy with these hydration breaks. They are not needed if it’s not boiling hot.” “It’s just stopping the game, allowing teams to reconfigure their alignments. I don’t like that. It’s only necessary when it’s extremely hot and humid and players need the water break.” “If you ask the players themselves, most of them would say the same thing. Not needed.” On the refereeing controversies surrounding the tournament, including Argentina’s win over Egypt, Constantine said mistakes and debates would always remain part of football.
“Look, firstly, for me, the behaviour of the Egyptian players and staff was disgraceful. Some of the comments they made after the game were outrageous.” “VAR has come in and VAR was there to help improve the level of refereeing. But if you have 10 VAR decisions, seven of them are going to be changed for the better. They’re not going to get every single decision correct,” he signed off. PTI TAP TAP AH AH
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