Maradona making a mess of Messi, says Ardiles

HE may be most people’s selection as the world’s greatest footballer, but Lionel Messi may not be the star of the World Cup finals. That’s the view of Argentina legend Ossie Ardiles who fears Messi’s relationship with Diego Maradona may undermine Argentina’s hopes of World Cup glory.

Ardiles, who won the World Cup as player in 1978, raised eyebrows when he described Maradona, who used over 70 players in Argentina’s stuttering qualification campaign ‘‘as the best manager in the world’’ in Dublin yesterday. He quickly clarified that the comment was made in jest before turning his attention Messi.

‘‘You know he (Messi) is having a lot of problems,’’ Ardiles said. ‘‘We had a lot of problems, we just qualified in the very last moments. We did not play good football. We did not play well and because the team did not play well, Messi did not play well.