Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic has revealed how Argentina and Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi could be checked from causing havoc during matches.
According to a UK Sun report citing Goal. com, Dalic, who guided The Blazers claim a 3-0 win over Messi and his La Albiceleste teammates at last summer World Cup in Russia insists it requires a collective team effort to nullify the 31-year-old.
"For me, Leo Messi is the best player in the world, and he is showing that week after week," Dalic told Goal. com.
"It's harder for Messi to play for Argentina than Barcelona, and we tried to exploit what we considered small weaknesses in the Argentinian team.
"The key was to be disciplined and to follow our tactical game plan fully, and our players did exactly that. We tried to stop the ball from reaching Messi and to contain him quickly in the areas where he likes to receive the ball.
"As good as Messi is, football is a team sport and if one team performs better than the other it's hard for any individual to turn everything around. Croatia were just a better team than Argentina in that game," the Croat noted.
Despite the setback, the five-time world footballer of the year was on top of his game as Argentina piped Nigeria's Super Eagles in their last group game but were knocked out by eventual winner France in the last-16 round.
Interestingly, Croatia continued their impressive form all the way to the final as star midfielder, Luka Modric emerged the player of the tournament.
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