Exactly. When the situation is tough he should ask for the ball more and be the one who steps up to try to make something out of nothing. He doesn't have that demanding factor (or garra as we Spanish speaking South Americans say) because he has not played in Argentina as a professional nor in a mid-table team like Tevez or Suarez has. It's in those teams where you learn everything is on the line and you become a very resilient player. Maradona acquired it when he played in Argentinos Juniors who went from battling relegation to battling for a Argentinian championship with him. The final is where you leave everything on the line. It would have been easier for Argentina had Di Maria been fit to play but he wasn't and Messi should have stepped up seeing as the forwards missed several chances to score. Higuain's miss was the worst one since he let the ball bounce for too long before he shot it
He could have easily carried it forward to get a better shot.Well I say Maradona is more skilled for several reasons. Maradona could pull a rabona as an accurate pass and a goal attempt from out of nowhere. Maradona had less space and time than Messi did and could still do mazy dribbles and create space for his teammates even when defenders were trying to break his legs. The supporting cast Maradona had in Napoli is nothing compared to what Messi has had in Barcelona and he still helped Napoli win two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, and the UEFA cup. Even the Argentina team today was better and more complete than the 1986 and 1990 one.
1. I do agree on that, Messi should have tried and even if he had failed, his efforts would have redeemed it.
2. yes it was not as great as Messi's Barcelona, but Napoli has things favoring them and Maradona. People have a way of thinking it was some-kind of Crystal Palace, Granada or Palermo of today, when it was clearly not. They were a rich side, and in the later part with Moggi, they also had many suspect results due to ref help.
If we had to break it season by season:
In the 83/84 season they finished in 12th and appointed Rino Marchesi in mid-season. In the off season out went the veteran Dutchman Ruud Krol and mercurial Brazilian Dirceu plus a number of over the hill and under-performing domestic players. In came Maradona, the Argentine great Daniel Bertoni and Azzurri midfielder Salvatore Bagni to strengthen the side. They joined the defensive stalwarts in Ferrario, Bruscolotti and Boldini plus solid Italians in Celestini, Caffarelli, De Vecchi and Dal Fiume. The side performed adequately for the most part with Diego playing in every match, out of his skin by all accounts and scoring 14 goals with Bertoni chipping in with 11 but they could only finish 8th. It was evident that the level of half the side did not even remotely match that of Diego nor was it good enough to crack the top echelon of the league. Also notable were the first few appearances in the shirt of a young Ciro Ferrara. The slightly low place would cost Marchesi and lead to him and Ottavio Bianchi from Como swapping roles for the next season. In a surprise Hellas Verona win the league title in 84/85.
For the 85/86 season a number of key changes were made in eccentric title winning goalkeeper Claudio Garella, libero Alessandro Renica from Sampdoria and Lazio fan favorite Bruno Giordano coming in. The side responded much better and finished strongly ending up in 3rd place behind the title winner Juventus and Roma. Maradona top scores with 11 league goals with Giordano on 10.
With a much more solid defence now of Renica, Bruscalotti, Ferrario, a youthful Ferrara and with Diego fresh from his miracles in Mexico the side looked ready for season 86/87. Strong additions in newly capped De Napoli from Avellino, Carnevale from Udinese (Bertoni heading the other way) and important squad player Francesco Romano would all play their role. There was initial disappointment in the UEFA Cup getting knocked out by Toulouse on penalties but in the league the side was confident, unbeaten at home and sprinted off to a massive lead in the first 2/3 of the season. In the end they limped their way to the title but not really faced with a real challenger barring an aging Juventus led by Marchesi now the Southerners won their first Serie A title and also the Coppa Italia easily disposing of Atalanta over two legs. Maradona lead the team in goals once again on 10 with Carnevale scoring 8 but many crucial goals were scored by the lesser known players in this great season.
The following season in 87/88 they brought in the exciting Brazilian Careca from Sao Paulo and flying left-back Giovanni Francini from Torino. This was also the season a stalwart in Bruscolotti was slowly being phased out due to his age. Terrible luck meant they had drawn arguably the best side in Europe at the time Real Madrid in the first round of the European Cup! Losing 3-1 on aggregate the side was by no means disgraced and once again they got off to a great start in the league going neck and neck with Milan into the final stretch with the Ma-Gi-Ca trio in electric form. The side then hit terrible form at the worst time failing to win any of the last 5 matches effectively handing Milan the title and amongst that streak was a big loss to Milan in Naples by 3-2. Maradona, Careca and Giordano finish on 15, 13 and 8 goals each.
For the 88/89 season big changes occurred as probably Bianchi felt that the current side had run its course. Giuliano Giuliani funnily enough from Hellas replaced Garella, out went the aging Ferrario, Bagni and Giordano replaced by the tigerish duo of Corradini and Massimo Crippa from Torino. Utility Luca Fusi from Sampdoria was another key arrival as was the Brazilian international midfielder Alemao from Atletico Madrid. A new Napoli was on the horizon rebuilt to take the place of the first version but amazingly Inter would just not drop points that year led by the wily Trapattoni, by the goals of Aldo Serena and the drive of the German Matthaus, they romped to the title. Napoli would also lose the Coppa Italia Final to Sampdoria quite convincingly but massive consolation was the fact that Napoli had won its first European trophy by beating PAOK, Leipzig, Bordeaux, Juventus, Bayern and finally Stuttgart in the Final to take the UEFA Cup. Careca top-scored with 19 goals, Carnevale on 13 and Diego on 9.
Season 89/90 brought a few changes again, most notably coaching in Alberto Bigon coming in from Cesena. On the playing front, Renica started to get less playing time while Romano left to Torino, the two replacements/squad fillers were Marco Baroni from Lecce and Massimo Mauro from Juventus. The side was brilliant in the league especially at home, winning every game bar one and finished strongly to take their second league title with everybody pitching in with strong performances, it was quite strong squad all-round shown by 6 players going to the WC in Carnevale, Ferrara, De Napoli, Alemao, Careca and of course Maradona. Anyone of Crippa, Fusi, Francini wouldn't have looked out of place in the Azzurri at the time but the NT was packed with talent. In Europe the side beat Sporting CP and Wettingen before they were smashed to pieces in Germany by Werder. Also notable was the emergence of a young Gianfranco Zola who made numerous substitute appearances and even chipped in with a goal or two. Maradona had 16 goals in the end, Careca 10 and Carnevale 8.
Season 90/91 and the beginning of the end, nowhere else to start but the events of Italia 90 and the SF clash between Italy and Argentina where the always controversial Diego had asked for the San Paolo to support his NT! According to him, Italy north of Naples spits on and hates the South 364 days a year but this one time they want them to feel Italian. On the pitch the side struggled finishing 8th in the league and crashed out of the European Cup to Spartak Moscow on penalties, with Diego missing his kick. Player wise Giuliani was replaced by the veteran Galli in goal while Fusi went to Torino in a swap with Venturin, Carnevale (who had a poor WC) was offloaded to Roma, while in came little known names of Incocciati, Rizzardi and Silenzi, a sign of where the club was heading, towards mediocrity. Nobody scored over 10 league goals, Careca ended up on 9, Incocciati on 7 and Zola and Diego on 6. Maradona played his last match against Sampdoria in a 4-1 defeat in Genoa on the 24th March 1991. With a ready made replacement in Zola and his ban for cocaine use in place the time was up for this Napoli side...
Yeah that 1986 final he was man marked by several German players who kept fouling him so he couldn't do much when he advanced hence why he reverted to being the playmaker in the final. The strategy was to attract German players to Maradona and leave openings for the other Argentinian players; which worked and it helped Argentina win the final.
I dont think so that was the strategy, Germany did their best to nullify Maradona, although him being brilliant and having a great functional side did helped a lot.
Di Stefano and Platini got very unlucky in the world cup. In 1966 Di Stefano's Spain should have been 2-0 at half time because they had a penalty ruled as a freekick outside the penalty box and Platini's France lost Battiston when that German gk almost killed him in the collision. That should have been a straight red for the German gk since he went straight for the man and not the ball. Losing Battiston cost France the game since they lost a good defender. The French played better that day but the better team doesn't always win as we know. Cruyff's Holland played some great football in 1974 but Germany were better in the final.
sorry to nitpick but Stefano never played in World Cup. Also Platini did redeemed himself with that great 1984 Euro.