The coach, popularly called 'Chairman', said Nigerians should not lose sleep over Messi's magnificent form, saying that he may not be in the same level for his country's national team during the World Cup.
Messi single-handedly put the defending champion into the Champions League semifinals after scoring all his team's goals in a 4-1 victory over Arsenal in a quarterfinal second leg on Tuesday. Barcelona progressed 6-3 on aggregate and will play Inter Milan in the last four.
The Argentina’s forward is on 39 goals for the campaign, topping last season's total by one, and has 50 in sight.
The former Eagles’ skipper said Nigeria could produce quality defenders who could stop the roaring Argentine player in South Africa. “I believe Messi is not invincible. Though, he is one-man riot squad. Nigeria can frustrate him out of the game. I think we have the players who could make the difference. It also depends on the strategy of the coach for the match,”he said.
“Now, we don't even know the calibre of players that would play for Nigeria at the World Cup but the team need to really work hard and rise up to the billing. Messi or no Messi, World Cup is a different ball game. It's a battle for the best across the globe and only the best triumphs,”Chukwu said. Messi is at his best. he scored two hat-tricks in three games last month- which has also made him the favorite to be crowned world player of the year, the award he was given last season.
Arsenal’s coach said shortly after the defeat of his team: “I believe we lost against a team that is better than us and that has the best player in the world,” Arsenal’s manager, Arsene Wenger, said: “Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable. He's the only player who can change direction at such a pace.” Netherlands and Barcelona great, Johan Cruyff, believes Messi is the world's best player because he has a team that is suited to his skills and because he reads the game perfectly.
“He has the capacity to do the difficult things without suffering, without distress … if you suffer, you can't be the best in anything,” Cruyff wrote in his regular column in El Periodico newspaper. “Leo floats over the field- sometimes you have the sensation he's not even there, that he's hiding. But he's there and the rival knows it.” Barcelona’s Coach, Pep Guardiola, said the secret of Messi, who has helped the Spanish champion to its third straight semifinal appearance, was his humility. “The good thing about Messi is that tomorrow, he will get up and look for the affection of his people and his teammates,” Guardiola said: “I like the love he has for football and his anonymous character.”
Messi's performance has even united Spanish football fans only three days before Barcelona and Real Madrid played each other, with the league title hanging in the balance. “The king of football,” the usually Madrid-friendly sports daily Marca wrote Wednesday before spelling out a warning for Saturday's match: “And how do we stop this guy?”
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