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#4 It offers an opportunity for Dybala
Paulo Dybala courted world attention with his performances in leading Juventus to the domestic double and the Champions League final of 2017, particularly in the quarter-final where his brace in the 3-0 aggregate win over Messi’s Barcelona sent across the message of being a potential heir to his compatriot’s throne.
The fact that he was Argentine got fans licking their lips at the prospect of the two creative wizards linking up together for the national team, and hope was expended that the pair could inspire Argentina to glory in Russia.
However, a year on from his break-out season, and Dybala is yet to be fully integrated into the national team.
The two matches he played together with Messi in World Cup qualification were unmitigated disasters, as the two players got in each other’s way most of the time due to the similarity of their playing styles and occupation the same position on the field. After promising to brainstorm on a solution to the conundrum, former coach Jorge Sampaoli gave up on it altogether and dropped Dybala from his next squad.
Heading into the World Cup, there was a genuine possibility that Dybala would not make it to Russia, and this was rather disappointing for a player who scored 26 goals in all competitions for Juventus in the just-concluded season.
As it happened, Dybal ultimately made it on the plane to the World Cup, but only played a peripheral role, making just two appearances in the opening two matches for a combined total of less than 30 minutes, and did not make it off the bench for either of the crunch fixtures against Nigeria and France.
Dybala is 24-year-old, and at the heights of his powers, so it is really disappointing that a player of his abilities has just 14 appearances for the national team in three years.
Messi and Dybala are similar types of players, albeit not on the same level as the Barcelona man, and for as long as Messi is around, Dybala would continue to take the backseat, which is a real shame.
However, Messi’s romance with the national team has not exactly gone according to the script, and his departure could pave the way for Dybala to rise to the occasion and be the man to lead Argentina to glory in a post-Messi era.
