Messi under fire over conduct of Argentina players during World Cup final defeat

Former Chelsea star, Tony Cascarino, has criticized Argentina captain Lionel Messi over his side’s conduct during their World Cup final defeat to Spain last weekend.

Argentina lost 1-0 against the La Roja in New Jersey following Ferran Torres’ goal.

Spain played better football compared to Argentina during the duration of the encounter.

Following the match, some Argentina players clashed with Spain players while Messi did not partake.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s The Sports Breakfast, Cascarino was disappointed at Messi for not attempting to control his teammates’ aggression.

He, however, admitted that physicality is part of football, but believes Lionel Scaloni’s men failed to show their talent against Spain.

“I was a bit disappointed in Lionel Messi if I’m honest about not actually reacting to the way they played,” Cascarino said.

“Because he’s been the highest player I could ever think of. I was surprised that Lionel Messi didn’t sort of say, ‘Hey, look, physicality is part of our game, but we’ve got a lot of talent, and we should have shown a bit more of that.'”