Marcos Rojo explains what Lionel Messi told the teammates at halftime

Lionel Messi, for all his unworldly skills and talent has never been seen as someone who can lead his team during difficult situations. Sure, he might be the focal point for his team whenever they trail in any game, but his inability to speak out loud or his introvert demeanor mean that Messi has hardly been a leader of men. Compared to the extrovert, bashing persona of archrival Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi prefers to remain silent and let the ball do the talking.

This works well enough for him at Barcelona, where players are experiences or already suited to their specific style of play. However, when he dons that Argentine shirt, the tables turn around quickly. Messi was astonishingly poor against Iceland and Croatia in the first two matches of this World Cup. In the second game against Luka Modric’s men, Argentina were stunned with a 3-0 battering and Messi quietly made his way out from the ground as soon as the final whistle blew.

This raised innumerable doubts regarding his leadership abilities, as the team needed him the most post that humiliating defeat. So, in the game against Nigeria, the demigod decided to bring out the leader in him. Messi was brilliant in the first half against the Africans, as he finished off Ever Banega’s delivery by controlling the ball in the most sublime of way through his left thigh. As Argentina secured the lead at halftime, Messi was seen doing some team talk, explaining his pals about how to approach the second half, presumably.

Marcos Rojo, who scored a late winner later, revealed that Messi had come up to them to calm the stress down. The captain said that it was a matter of life or death for them, and asked everyone to maintain a composed head while looking to run forward in search of another goal.

Rojo said that it helped him a lot, as the team was nervous and things could have gone badly, but Leo was stubborn to ensure that La Albiceleste saw it through. Eventually, Marcos did score Argentina’s most crucial goal of the campaign and Leo was undoubtedly delighted, as the duo celebrated the goal with utmost passion and emotions running down their face.

Seems that Messi could surely direct and lead some of this lads, huh?