Maradona’s message to Messi following Argentina break

Lionel Messi is reportedly taking a breather from the national team and will not be playing for the Argentine national team this year. Argentina’s iconic star Diego Maradona said that it was a good thing for Messi to take rest during this period and did not see anything controversial with Messi’s choice.

"It's good that he rests a bit from national team duty. I would give him a breather and would say 'play in Europe, do not travel any more, do not get used anymore.'

“I would not want to go to play in a friendly just because the national team will win more. He did that with [Julio] Grondona [late and former AFA president], too, but we had less money at that time and today for Messi it is not necessary that he is moving to make money for Argentina, "he said in an exclusive interview with Diario Ole.

Maradona famously won the World Cup with the national team in 1986 and took the team to the final of the 1990 World Cup. The legend reiterated that he found it disappointing to be compared to Messi, who has won everything with Barcelona but did not shine with the national team as much as his countrymen would have like.

"They always want to tell me something about Lio, but I'm not going to say anything because with me he always behaved perfectly,” he said.

“But there is only one Maradona,” he added.

Maradona also said that he would like to be in charge of the national team but if someone else was to be in charge of the team, it has to be Cesar Luis Menotti, the coach who won Argentina their first World Cup in 1978.

“If you have to choose, I'll take the Flaco Menotti, no doubt, but a more modern version. I would change some things. The old system may not work and it needs to be more elastic.”

Asked if there was a dearth of capable coaches in Argentina, Maradona replied: ‘Absolutely’.