Jorge Sampaoli has asked his Argentina players to step up and help Lionel Messi win the World Cup after they claimed a 3-1 comeback victory over Ecuador to qualify for next summer's tournament.
Messi scored a hat-trick as his country recovered from an early Ecuador strike to claim a place at Russia 2018 and coach Sampaoli believes the Barcelona striker deserves more than anything to win the showpiece.
Speaking after the game, Sampaoli told a press conference: "I told the group: Messi did not owe the World Cup to Argentina, but football owed the World Cup to Messi.
"The nationality of the best player in the world is luckily Argentine.
"Football, the World Cup, could not be left (the same) without Messi. We had to play with that in mind.
As a consequence of that pressure we are stronger now, this qualification will make us stronger to face the future.
"We had the possibility to help him to be in another World Cup. He is the best player in the history of soccer and I'm very excited to be in a group near him."
Messi hit a brace in the first half in Quito and capped off a stellar performance as he completed his hat-trick with a stunning chip over goalkeeper Maximo Banguera just after the hour mark.
Romario Ibarra stunned the away fans - and perhaps all of South America - as he slotted home in the opening minute before Argentina fought back.
Sampaoli added: "I think the game became complicated in terms of planning. It became more difficult because Ecuador scored in the opening minute.
"But we, as a group, had the ability to appreciate the match lasts 90 minutes."
Argentina weren't at their best, unable to control possession or the shape of the game as they would have liked.
But it hardly mattered as the five-time Ballon d'Or winner showed his class.
Substitute Mauro Icardi should have made it 4-1 at the death, but was denied by Banguera, but this was the night when Argentina's greatest goalscorer became perhaps their greatest ever player.
Source: The Mirror.
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