Chile legend, Arturo Vidal, has named Lionel Messi as the most important player Argentina has.
He said this while talking about the 2016 Copa America and how Chile planned to beat Argentina.
The final of that year’s competition was between Argentina and Chile.
Vidal said there were plans to stop Messi, who according to him, remains Argentina’s most important player.
The former Inter Milan man said the idea was to close down on Messi every time the Barça legend got the ball and not to give him any space.
Speaking on the ‘A dos cámaras’ YouTube channel, Vidal pointed out that Messi’s ability to beat multiple players to score goals was the reason many players had to mark him out.
He said, via BolaVIP, “What we were clear about was that when Leo had the ball, every player who was close had to come up to help press him. Why? Because we knew that he is the most important player that Argentina has.
“And he is the only one who can leave you alone, he can go against one, two or three. He can go to three and score a goal.”
He said the team had to focus on their plan which was to mark the Inter Miami forward out and not allow him to make his next move.
He said their plans also included to foul the former Paris Saint-Germain forward whenever they failed to get the ball from him.
DAILY POST recalls that the game ended 0-0 at full time and Chile went on to beat Argentina 4-2 on penalty shootout.
