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21 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 JULY 2014 Semi-final restores Argentina's World Cup pride Argentina's global football stars have for years come under fire at home for underperforming with the national team. After returning to a World Cup semi-final for the first time in 24 years, they strive for more ARGENTINA are set to play a World Cup semi-final against the Netherlands, and the match Wednesday in Sao Paulo will be more than just football for Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano and their team-mates. It is their chance to impress a nation, after years of trophy drought. A generation of Argentine players who grew up with Diego Maradona as an undisputed legend and with the demand that they emulate his Mexico 1986 world championship title have had trouble handling the huge expectations of a football- crazy nation. "I am tired of eating shit," Mascherano told his team-mates Saturday, ahead of the quarter-fi- nal they won 1-0 against Belgium. He was speaking from his heart about a match that could be the end of an eight-year ordeal, or a perpetuation of that ordeal to give him and other great footballers perennial loser status. Twice world champions Argen- tina had not reached the World Cup semi-finals since Italy 1990. As time went by, the burden grew heav y, and it got particularly heav y when Messi - who was born one year after Maradona lifted the 1986 trophy - became one of the world 's best players. Of the current Argentina squad, Messi, Mascherano and Maxi Ro- driguez played the 2006 World Cup and endured elimination in the quarter-finals. Alongside Sergio Romero, Mar- tin Demichelis, Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero, they suffered a quarter- finals exit in South Africa 2010, with Maradona as coach. Throughout that process, the team endured more than just elim- ination. Many Argentinians ques- tioned their commitment to the team, and dismissed top players who shone with European clubs as mercenaries who would only play for money. Messi bore the brunt of the criti- cism. He left his native Rosario for Barcelona at the age of 13, and the fact that his performances in blue and white took years to match his play at Barca became a heav y load. Over the course of his adoles- cence in Spain, Messi stuck to his Argentine accent and opted to play for his native country although he could have played for Spain. However, he still had to endure harsh criticism for not singing the Argentinian national anthem as well as for his lacklustre perform- ances. Messi and Argentina shook that burden off off their shoulders after the win over Belgium Saturday. "We Argentinians had been playing that match for 24 years," Mascherano said after the game. "But we also know that we have an even greater responsibility on Wednesday. Afterwards, fate will put us in whatever place it holds for us, but we need to be up to the challenge," Mascherano said. Argentina have outperformed their predecessors of 24 years, which is a cause for relief. However, for a whole generation of players, even without the pres- sure, the goal remains to win a third World Cup title. "Argentina is my country, my family, my way of expressing my- self. I would change all my records to make the people in my country happy," Messi told Spanish sports daily Marca ahead of Brazil 2014. The 2009-2012 Ballon d 'Or and three-time Champions League winner wants the only trophy that can really make a difference in his successful football career. In Brazil, the 27-year-old striker has said it was his "dream" to win the World Cup and performed on the pitch as the leader that Ma- radona was for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup. The team around him has grown match by match to establish its credentials. Messi and his teammates are one of only five Argentina teams to have ever reached the last four in a World Cup. As coach Alejan- dro Sabella put it after the match against Belgium, "in a way, this squad has gone down in history." When they go out onto the pitch Wednesday in Sao Paulo, Mara- dona and the 1986 world cham- pions can for once be a source of motivation to strive for greater glory, rather than the heav y load that has highlighted past undera- chievements. Argentinian players Lionel Messi (C) laughs with Ezequiel Ivan Lavezzi (L) during a training session . Photo by EPA/DENNIS M. SABANGAN Colombia asks Italy to protect Zuniga after Neymar foul THE Colombian Foreign Ministry has requested that Italy guarantee the safety of Colombian footballer Juan Zuniga, who carried out the foul which injured Brazil star Neymar and ended his World Cup. Zuniga plays his club football for Italian side Napoli. There have been numerous threats against him on social networks fol- lowing the injury to Neymar during the World Cup quarter-final between Brazil and Colombia on Friday. FIFA is taking no action against Zuniga for the challenge. The Colombian Foreign Minis- try reminded fans that Zuniga had apologized. The 2014 World Cup Get all the latest updates