Czeslaw Michniewicz, the manager of Poland, compared Lionel Messi to skiing legend Alberto Tomba ahead of his team’s crucial World Cup match against Argentina.
As Poland prepares to face Argentina in a pivotal group stage match, Michniewicz has lavished praise on Messi and compared the forward to legendary former Italian Alpine ski racer Alberto Tomba, who has three Olympic gold medals to his name.
The tactician believes that his troops must surround the Paris Saint-Germain forward whenever he receives the ball because one player cannot stop him.
Czeslaw Michniewicz’s statement
”Messi on the pitch is like Alberto Tomba on the slope, he’s able to avoid everyone like Tomba can get around everything,” said Michniewicz. ”So we need to put players around Messi because if he can get around (them) easily he will easily score. One player cannot stop Messi, we must get players around him. The whole world has been thinking for years about how to stop Lionel Messi and he has made dozens of goals and assists. I don’t think we’ll ever find the final answer to this question.”
This match has also been dubbed a battle between Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi, but Michniewicz insists that the contest will not be decided by a single player.
“It’s not only a match between Lewandowski and Messi, it’s not tennis,” he said. ”Robert needs his teammates, the same as Leo needs his. We rely on these great strikers but they cannot win on their own.”
Argentina’s captain, Messi will be hoping to inspire his country to victory over Poland and advance to the round of 16. Both teams will qualify if their match is a draw, and nothing separates Saudi Arabia and Mexico in the other final group match.
