Argentina coach Diego Maradona has revealed how impressed he has been with Lionel Messi since the Barcelona forward joined up with his squad for the World Cup and praised his display against Nigeria this past weekend.
“I want to say one thing about Lionel. I see him so relaxed. He’s so mature, I feel great,” Maradona told a press conference. “He needed a match like the one he had against Nigeria. He showed leadership, playing well with his team-mates, especially when the match was close in the second half. “That’s when we saw the best version of Messi, he was never shy. He kept on trying to play. Him, together with [Carlos] Tevez, took away Nigeria’s confidence in the second half.”
Argentina face South Korea in their second Group B fixture tomorrow and Maradona revealed he was looking forward to the prospect of facing a less physical side. “Every time we collided with a Nigerian player it was like hitting a wall,” he said. Whereas against South Korea we won’t suffer from it as much, we will be more equal with them in that regard.”
South Korea, a 2002 World Cup semifinalist, leads Group B on goal difference after beating Greece 2-0 on Saturday, and Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung is expected to be the main threat to the Argentines.
Park told Argentine newspaper Clarin that his team would be very wary of Messi. “He’s magic,” Park said. “Argentina’s one of the best teams in the world. But Korea is in good form and will have to defend well — and then hit them on the counterattack.
“As the team spirit is in upswing from the victory in the first match, we will face [Argentina] with confidence,” Park told reporters in Rustenburg. “We believe we can produce good results if we play at the top of our game.”
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