Maradona sees Messi as natural heir

Posted Saturday, June 12, 2010 by PA

Argentina coach Diego Maradona admits he would love to see Lionel Messi make the same impact on this World Cup as he himself did back in 1986.

Maradona took the tournament by storm 24 years ago in Mexico, scoring five goals - including stunning individual efforts against England and Belgium - and setting up five more en route to helping Argentina claim their second and most recent World Cup crown.

It was one of the greatest showings the finals have ever seen and, although he failed to score in the 3-2 final win over West Germany, it was fitting that it should be Maradona who lifted the World Cup trophy.

Maradona enhanced his superstar status in 1986, and now the eyes of the world fall on his heir apparent, Messi, to see if the Barcelona magician can do likewise.

"I would love to see that," said Maradona. "I certainly would appreciate it if he could have the same impact on the World Cup that I had in 1986, the same leading role that I had then.

"But behind Lionel there is a whole team backing him up and he should be the cherry on the cake.

"I just hope from the bottom of my heart that Lionel gets to show what he can do and that he has the best performance of all time."

Argentina fitness coach Fernando Signorini had voiced concerns earlier this week that Messi was still feeling the after-effects of a gruelling season with Barca, but after Thursday's training session all 23 squad members were deemed fit for duty ahead of the World Cup opener against Nigeria.

Striker Obafemi Martins insists the Nigerians must not fall into the trap of concentrating all their efforts on stopping Messi.

The former Newcastle man said: "People talk a lot about Messi, forgetting that there are other very good players in the Argentinian team, such as Carlos Tevez and Diego Milito. It's a team game and we also have our own stars for the day.

"It is an important match for all of us, the players and the technical crew."