MX23RW : Saturday, July 6 02:48:19| >> :120:37632:37632:
[monks data]
Attendance: 68,551
Argentina national football team
World Cup | Quarter-Finals
Jul 5, 2014 at 5pm UK
 
Belgium national football team

1-0

Higuain (8')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Alejandro Sabella admits Lionel Messi dependence

Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella says that his side are not a one-man team but admits that Lionel Messi is key to their aspirations.

Alejandro Sabella has admitted that his Argentina team heavily depend on the magic of Lionel Messi, but insisted that they are not a one-man team.

The Barcelona ace has hit four World Cup goals thus far to help La Albiceleste top Group F, before bagging a crucial assist in Tuesday's dramatic extra-time win over Switzerland.

Sabella's side face Belgium in the quarter-final on Saturday but, despite conceding that a player of Messi's quality will always take centre stage, the 59-year-old insists that he has more than one string to his bow.

"Messi dependence? Any team that has a player like Messi will depend on him," the Argentina coach said at a press conference.

"The fact that he is doing what he has been doing shows that he is the best in the world, but there's more to this team.

"Against Switzerland, [Rodrigo] Palacio was the one who won the ball in midfield before he set up Messi ahead of the goal. Without Palacio, we would not have scored that goal."

Tomorrow's clash kicks off at 5pm.

ID:163285: cacheID:163285:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2093:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Jan Vertonghen of Belgium celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group H match between South Korea and Belgium at Arena de Sao Paulo on June 26, 2014
Read Next:
Vertonghen: "We will stop Messi as a team"
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Saturday, July 6
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!