Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Lionel Messi: "He needs help, he cannot carry the team alone"

Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic shared his sharp views on Argentina's performance at the World Cup. He emphasized that while Lionel Messi is saving the team with his supernatural performances, his teammates must support him more. Ibrahimovic believes the Argentina national team should not rely solely on the skills of one player. This is reported by Goal.com .

The dramatic Round of 16 match against Egypt (3:2) proved Messi's true leadership once again. With Argentina trailing 0:2, it was Lionel Messi who took control of the game. He first assisted a goal scored by Cristian Romero, then became the author of the equalizer. In the final minutes, Enzo Fernandez scored the winning goal, sending the team to the quarterfinals.

“He turned into a beast” — Ibrahimovic on Messi

Speaking on Fox Sports, Ibrahimovic did not hide his admiration for his former teammate's performance. "You could see something changed in him after it was 2:0. He flipped a switch and turned into a real beast; no one could stop him. You can see how important this victory is to him. Messi has won everything, and no matter how many Ballon d'Ors he has, he still wants more," said the Swedish striker.

However, Ibrahimovic criticized the rest of the Argentina squad. According to him, even though the 39-year-old is outperforming everyone in the tournament, the team has become overly dependent on him. Currently, Messi leads the Golden Boot race with 8 goals, ahead of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. Zlatan believes the Albiceleste should not wait for Messi to perform miracles in every playoff match.

“To be a bit critical, his teammates need to raise their level and help him. He is on a completely different level. No one would be surprised if Messi continues like this until the end of the tournament. But he needs help,” added Ibrahimovic.

Historic results and a Hollywood script

Another legend, Thierry Henry, who participated in the show, also praised Messi's performance, which defies his age and expectations. The Inter Miami forward has reached 21 World Cup goals in his career, surpassing legends like Miroslav Klose and moving ahead of Kylian Mbappe, who has 19 goals.

Henry compared Messi's career to a Hollywood movie: "If you wrote a script like this, people would think it couldn't be true. It would seem like the director went a bit too far. But Messi is writing these scripts with his own feet; he is making history." After the match against Egypt, Messi's goal tally for the national team reached 125 in 204 matches.

For football fans in Uzbekistan, every game of Messi is of great interest. Lionel Messi's ability to maintain such high form and surpass world-class stars despite his age is a rare phenomenon in the football world. The fate of the Argentina national team in the next stages will largely depend on how much the players around Messi can help him.