Former "Barcelona" defender Emmanuel Petit believes that Lionel Messi lacks leadership qualities that would help the team be more aggressive.
For Messi, the 2018 World Cup has been tragic so far - the draws and missed penalty against Iceland and the crushing defeat to Croatia. From Messi's body language, it is clear that the player himself does not seem to have a strong desire to play for the national team.
Petit suggests that Messi should look at Cristiano Ronaldo.
"He is not a leader. He falls far behind in this aspect compared to Cristiano. Everyone knows that Messi is one of the best footballers in history, but he needs to change his mentality," Petit said.
"He needs to wake up and show desire. In Barcelona, where the situation is almost always good, he is an incredible player. We have seen something similar in the Champions League - when the game is not going Barcelona's way, we don't see Lionel either. He simply stops participating in the match, stops running, looks disinterested, and waits for something to be done," added the Frenchman, who also played for "Chelsea" and "Arsenal" in the past.
The former footballer criticized the entire Argentine team: "Their body language is so bad, they don't trust each other on the field. I don't think the current Argentina team is capable of advancing to the knockout stage."
