Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/698019
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 29 JUNE 2016 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL FOOTBALL - EURO 2016 Maradona urges Messi to shelve plans to quit Argentina WORLD Cup winner Diego Mara- dona has called on compatriot Lionel Messi not to abandon in- ternational football after the Ar- gentina captain announced he was quitting the national side follow- ing Sunday's Copa America final defeat. Maradona, captain of his coun- try in their second World Cup tri- umph in 1986, was among many leading personalities to speak out in support of Messi, who ap- peared badly affected by the pen- alty shootout loss to Chile in New Jersey. The 29-year-old Messi, a multi- ple trophy winner with Barcelona, has now been part of four final de- feats with the national team, three in the Copa America and at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. "Messi must carry on in the national team... because he still has a lot to give, because he'll get to (2018 World Cup hosts) Rus- sia with chances of being world champion," Maradona was quoted as saying in the Argentine daily La Nacion on Monday. "He has to lean more on the lads who can help him take the team forward and less on those who say he should leave," added Maradona, who played in two World Cup fi- nals. "Messi was abandoned and I don't want to abandon him. That's why I want to talk to him, to fight against all those who abandoned him," said Maradona, who coached Messi and Argentina at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. A dejected Messi, who had said he would swap his five world play- er of the year awards for one title with Argentina, told reporters af- ter the match he was leaving the national team. "In the dressing room I thought that this is the end for me with the national team, it's not for me," he said. "I tried so hard to be champion with Argentina. Now I am leaving without having managed it," he said after the defeat at the tourna- ment hosted in the United States to mark the centenary of South America's flagship competition. There was a strong show of sup- port for Messi when the team re- turned to Buenos Aires, with fans displaying banners at the airport saying: "Without you we're noth- ing, don't go Messi" and "Stay Messi, you're the best". A call went out on social media for a demonstration to be held on Saturday at the Obelisco monu- ment in the centre of Buenos Aires, a traditional spot for cele- brating sporting victories, to urge Messi to reconsider. President Mauricio Macri, a for- mer chairman of Boca Juniors who was pictured watching Sunday's match wearing an Argentina shirt, joined in the show of support for Messi with a message on Twitter. "More than ever I feel a great pride in our national team. I hope the joy of seeing the best in the world will continue for many more years," he wrote. Argentina's former coach Diego Maradona (R) hugs Lionel Messi after their 2010 World Cup Group B soccer match Club mentality is secret to Italy success, says coach WITHOUT the star names that have graced Italy sides in the past, coach Antonio Conte says the se- cret to their success at Euro 2016 has been to shun the mentality of a national team and behave like a club. Italy came into the European Championship with an ageing squad shorn of standout talents and with few tipping them for success. Their tournament performanc- es, however, have confounded ex- pectations and a 2-0 victory over Spain on Monday propelled them into the quarter-finals, where they will face Germany in Bor- deaux on Saturday. Recent Italy teams went into major tournaments with individ- ual talents such as Mario Balotelli or Andrea Pirlo, who attracted enormous amounts of media at- tention. For Conte, who has a notori- ous emphasis on the team ethic and industry over individuality, the way to achieve success is to mould the national team around the model of a club, where a well- drilled tactical system can stif le even the best opponents. "I've always said, right from the start of my work here with the na- tional team, that the only road we can follow if we want a bit of suc- cess is to be like a club, to be like a team that play together every week – we cannot allow ourselves to be a selection," Conte told re- porters following the victory over Spain at the Stade de France. "I'm happy above all for the play- ers. It's more than a month that we've been working tactically, technically, mentally and we've been trying to surprise everybody and I think we've succeeded to some extent." Spain, who had won the previ- ous two European titles, were comprehensively snuffed out, barely posing a threat until the closing stages of the game. Conte feels next opponents Germany, however, could pose a greater challenge. The world champions cruised through the group stage and thumped Slovakia 3-0 to reach the last eight. "We now face the best side at the European Championship next Saturday," Conte said. "It's going to be very, very hard in all aspects. We've got to do well to recover and prepare for Ger- many the best way we can. "We are without Thiago Motta (suspended) and that's a big blow, also because (Daniele) De Rossi took a knock to his hip. But we know that in adversity, we give that little bit more." Antonio Conte