Argentina

There had been much speculation that the Barcelona 22-year-old would be rested for the match amid concerns about keeping him fresh for the latter stages of the tournament.

But Maradona said it would be a “sin” to deprive the public of Messi’s talents against Greece, even though Argentina are virtually assured of qualifying for the next phase.

Maradona insisted that the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year would feature in the match in Polokwane.

“Lionel Messi always wants to play and I thought I should give him a break (in training), but if you have a player as good as Leo, who is the best player in the world, I think it would be a sin not to give Messi to the people, to the team, and leave out the player who can certainly make the difference in a match,” said Maradona.

“We of course wanted to give Lionel Messi a break (in training). He will play.”

Maradona also played down Messi’s lack of success in front of goal. The striker has not yet scored in Argentina’s two games.

“If Messi is having a bad run then let him continue with that bad run, because I’m extremely pleased with Messi’s performances,” said Maradona.

“He goes out to play and help his team-mates. Leo helps define the match and creates things for the other players.”

Meanwhile, Maradona, whose infamous “Hand of God” is one of the most controversial incidents in World Cup history, believes more emphasis should be placed on fair play in the tournament.

Maradona appealed to FIFA prior to the start of the tournament to highlight their Fair Play campaign during the competition.

He then repeated the call for referees to protect flair players ahead of Argentina’s second group match against South Korea.

“We all want fair play, I understand that the referee may make a mistake but when (Argentina captain Javier) Mascherano, for instance, gets a card and the Korean player kicks out and gets nothing, no card, then sometimes as a coach you have doubts,” he said.

“This is football and not kung-fu fighting. So I don’t think yet we’ve seen the fair play we want to see.”

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