Lionel Messi will be carrying the weight of his whole country on his shoulders when Argentina face Croatia this evening and Gerard Pique wants to remind everyone just how harsh the criticism the forward has faced it.
Argentina are always one of the favourites to win the World Cup and usually there's a very good reason for it considering the sort of talent that they've got to choose from, including Lionel Messi.
Once again they stepped into this tournament with most people expecting them to top the group but in their opening game they drew with Iceland as Messi missed a penalty to win the game in the second half.
That was unfortunate for the Barcelona forward with his arch nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo having scored a hat-trick the night before the Iceland game as Portugal drew 3-3 with Spain.
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The Real Madrid forward went on to add to that tally in the game against Morocco and suddenly he is the best player in the world and Messi is merely his inferior.
Messi gets beaten by the international football stick far too often in the conversation about who is the greatest and Gerard Pique, as reported by Mundo Deportivo, told a great truth about Messi and Argentina, saying:
"The fact is that he is the one who carried his team and yet he receives the most criticism. Have people forgotten that without Argentina having the best player in the world, they wouldn't even be in this tournament?
"People don't seem to remember he brought Argentina into this World Cup. You can't doubt his quality and commitment he gives to Argentina."
Argentina were struggling to qualify for the World Cup and were even battling to be in the play-off spot but in the final qualifying game Messi scored a hat-trick to take his country to Russia.
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Often people say that Messi's failure to win an international tournament is what means he can't be considered the best ever but he has helped Argentina get to three finals in a row.
They lost to Germany in the World Cup final four years ago and lost twice to Chile on penalties in two Copa America finals.
He was player of the tournament in Brazil four years ago and didn't even play badly in the final whilst the comparisons with Ronaldo's Euro win are on dodgy ground with the Real forward not that impressive in France two years ago and missed most of the final.
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As always the argument is far too complicated for just stats and trophy cabinets but Messi will need to produce his best to get Argentina through.
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