Messi Tidak Berhak Raih Bola Emas. Itu Kemauan FIFA, kata Maradona
Maradona: Messi Didn` t Deserve to Win Golden Ball, it was a FIFA Marketing Plan
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
Buenos Aires (B2B) - Legenda sepak bola Argentina Diego Maradona mengatakan rekan senegaranya Lionel Messi tidak layak dianugerahi pemain terbaik Piala Dunia karena menurutnya penghargaan itu seharusnya diberikan kepada pemain Kolombia James Rodriguez.
"Saya ingin memberi Lio setinggi-tingginya, tetapi manakala itu tidak layak dan hanya para pemasar yang ingin membuatnya memenangi sesuatu yang tidak dimenangkan, maka itu tidak adil," kata Maradona setelah Argentina kalah 0-1 pada final Piala Dunia melawan Jerman, seperti dilansir Yahoo Sports.
"Rodriguez adalah pemain terbaik pada Piala Dunia ini," kata Maradona dalam program TV "De Zurda" yang disiarkan oleh jejaring televisi Venezuela Telesur dan dipancarkan kembali di sejumlah negara Amerika Latin.
Rodriguez yang berusia 23 tahun adalah pencerah Piala Dunia dan pencetak gol terbanyak dengan enam gol.
Messi mempesona di fase grup dengan empat gol, tetapi gagal mencetak gol pada babak empat besar, termasuk laga final.
Maradona mengatakan Messi sendiri sepertinya tidak merasa dia pantas untuk trofi itu.
"Sepertinya dia tidak ingin mengambilnya," kata dia.
Namun Maradona memuji Argentina dan mengatakan pertandingan itu bisa saja berakhir dengan hasil sebaliknya.
"Saya sedih pada gol (kemenangan) Mario Goetze," kata dia. "Tetapi kami tak bisa melupakan bahwa kami sampai ke Piala Dunia ini langkah demi langkah. Andai kami mencetak gol (Gonzalo) Higuain (yang kemudian dianulir) maka kami bisa berpesta. Jerman tidaklah dominan."
Maradona (53) adalah idola masa kecil Messi, sekaligus pesaingnya sebagai pesepakbola terbesar sepanjang masa Argentina.
Bagi banyak penggemar, striker Barcelona berusia 27 tahun masih membutuhkan trofi Piala Dunia untuk menyamai kebesaran Maradona yang memimpin timnya menjuarai Piala Dunia 1986.
Buenos Aires - Argentine football legend, Diego Maradona said compatriot Lionel Messi did not deserve to be named best player of the World Cup, arguing it should have gone to Colombia's James Rodriguez.
"I'd give Lio the sky, but when it's not deserved and it's just marketers who want to make him win something he didn't win, it's unfair," Maradona said Sunday after Argentina lost the World Cup final to Germany 1-0.
"Rodriguez was the best player of the World Cup," said Maradona on his TV program "De Zurda," which is broadcast by Venezuelan network Telesur and retransmitted in several Latin American countries.
The 23-year-old Rodriguez was the revelation of the World Cup and the top scorer with six goals.
Messi dazzled in the group stage with four goals, but failed to score in his last four games, including the final.
Maradona said Messi himself did not seem to feel he deserved the trophy.
"It looked like he didn't want to take it," he said.
But Maradona praised Argentina and said the match could have gone either way.
"I'm sad about Mario Goetze's (game-winning) goal," he said. "But we can't forget that we took this World Cup step by step. If we had scored (Gonzalo) Higuain's (disallowed) goal we would be partying. Germany were not dominant."
Maradona, 53, was Messi's childhood idol and is his rival for the title of greatest-ever Argentine footballer.
To many fans, the 27-year-old Barcelona striker still needs to add a World Cup win to his resume to match the greatness of Maradona, who led his team to the title in 1986.