Kempes: Messi not worthy of award

Argentina legend Mario Kempes believes that Lionel Messi didn’t do enough to win the World Cup Golden Ball.

The Barcelona forward was named the tournament’s best player on Sunday, but the man who fired the Albicelestes to the Jules Rimet trophy in 1978 has insisted that ‘La Pugla’ wasn’t worthy of the award.

“I think that Messi wasn’t up to standard during the World Cup,” he told Radio America.

“He may have scored four goals in the first few games but I don’t believe he showed he was the best player in the world by the end of the tournament.

“Argentina needed Messi like a fish needs water but he needed to be more involved. We lacked his footballing brain.

“Our main concern, which was the defence, ended up being the attack. The world seems upside down.”

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