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Mario Kempes has added himself to the long list of names that were taken aback when Lionel Messi was handed the Golden Ball trophy at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The Argentine great claimed that Messi was “not up to standard” during the football’s mega-event in Brazil.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter had already claimed that he was surprised by the choice as well. While Diego Maradona voiced that the award was given to the diminutive Argentine for marketing reasons.
Kempes, who led the team by scoring during Argentina’s World Cup winning campaign in 1978 criticised the performance of Argentina’s #10 during an interview with Radio America.
“I think that Messi wasn’t up to standard during the World Cup,” he said. “He may have scored four goals in the first few games but I don’t believe he showed he was the best player in the world by the end of the tournament.
“Argentina needed Messi like a fish needs water but he needed to be more involved. We lacked his footballing brain.”
He further added Kempes added: “Our main concern, which was the defence, ended up being the attack. The world seems upside down.”
After showing some glimpse of magic in the group stages, the Argentine attack seemed to have blunted out in the knock-out stages, where they managed to score only twice in the space of four games.
