Has Jorge Sampaoli lost the dressing room to Lionel Messi? Maradona says no

There is a growing rumour around the Argentina football team that coach Jorge Sampaoli has lost his influence over La Albiceleste in the wake of abysmal performances in FIFA World Cup group matches. The rumour was further fuelled after some pictures surfaced on social media in which team captain Lionel Messi was conducting a team talk on the pitch during the break. But there is one man, who has shunned these rumours and put a full stop to them.

Legendary Argentina attacker Diego Maradona on Saturday slammed the reports saying that it is not possible to take away the influence of a coach from a team. However, he conceded that a team need to rely on experienced players.

Maradona, who himself coached the same crop of players in the 2014 World Cup, said, “I don’t believe that’s possible. If that happened, it’s better not to have a coach. I think it’s outrageous, anyway. Not having a leader for certain things would not be good.”

The South American football icon further asserted that although one would also have to rely on experienced players, but even they need the coach to tell them something, to lead the way.

Argentina players were absolutely disastrous in their opening group fixtures suffering one defeat and a drab draw. It was only in the final group match that Marcos Rojo and talisman Lionel Messi fired La Albiceleste into the round of 16.

The South American side is due to play a tough opponent in France on Saturday in their round of 16 match and the momentum is clearly with the French team which cruised to the advanced stages undefeated.

In another game on Saturday, Uruguay will take on a high-flying Portugal which is being led by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 4 goals in 3 matches so far