A leaked phone message believed to be from Diego Simeone has him admitting that when it comes to carrying a mediocre team on his shoulders Cristiano Ronaldo is a better bet that Lionel Messi.
Spanish radio Cadena Cope replayed the message supposedly from Simeone to his Atletico Madrid No 2 and fellow Argentinian German Burgos.
In it he says: ‘Messi is very good but he is very good because he is accompanied by extraordinary footballers. If you have to choose between Messi and Ronaldo in a normal game, who would you choose?’
It was not only the Barcelona star who was in Simeone’s cross-hairs as he launched a withering attack on the entire national team.
‘What’s happening to the team right now is what has happened to Argentina in these last four disgraceful years: anarchy, no leadership from the players, coaches or directors. The team is lost,’ he said.
‘Right now in the dressing room they are coming to blows. Someone needs to stand up and fight.’
Simeone was just as scathing about Willy Caballero, who was at fault for Croatia’s first goal in the humiliating 3-0 defeat at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
‘The goalkeeper has done this before hasn’t he German?’ he asked his assistant.
‘He did it against Spain, against Italy when they hit the post, and if you slip up like that in a World Cup, it’s a goal.’
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