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Argentina's coach  admits that his side have a natural
tendency to rely on the Barcelona forward and need to show
more as a team in their clash with Nigeria
Alejandro Sabella believes that his Argentina side need to
learn to depend less on Lionel Messi and also look to improve
on recent displays when they face Nigeria .
The 27-year-old attacker has scored in both Group F games
so far, netting sublime winners in both the 2-1 victory over
Bosnia-Herzegovina and the 1-0 win over Iran.
However, head coach Sabella conceded that his team need to
show some improvement on those performances and
acknowledged that his players must look beyond Messi to win
matches.
"Every time you have a player like Messi, there is of course
overdependence," the 59-year-old told a press conference.
"We try to reduce that but you have to depend on him. I guess
this is normal pressure for a player and we try to reduce the
pressure on him by playing together.
"Leo has played very well in the national team in Argentina
and the friendly matches we have played outside. In these two
matches he has been good. He is venerated in Argentina and
he has deserved the veneration.
"We have to improve in the group, we need a little more
mobility to find the spaces.
"Team problems can't be discussed publicly as a matter of
respect for the group. I think we are improving little by little
and we need trust and confidence."
The Albiceleste will face Nigeria in their final group game later in the day and Sabella insisted that the Super Eagles, who
go into the game after defeating Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0, will
pose a real threat to top the group given their speed in attack.
"Every time that we have won against Nigeria, we have
scored with set-pieces. They are a difficult opponent to play,"
he continued.
"I see a fast team, attacking swiftly whether [Peter]
Odewmwingie or [Ahmed] Musa plays.
"We know about [Emmanuel] Emenike and the physical
strength he has. We know that generally the Africans are very
fast. They have this way of playing that you always have to
watch out when they get the ball into the attack. It is a team
that is very fast."