Vangelis Moras on Lionel Messi at the 2010 World Cup: “We all closed in on him to stop him entering the box”

Lionel Messi’s departure from Argentina’s national team has brought back memories of the 2010 World Cup, including Greece’s encounter with the player who was already being seen as Diego Maradona’s successor.

Vangelis Moras, now a coach at Athens Kallithea, started in central defence for Greece in that match. Otto Rehhagel placed him behind Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who had the main responsibility for watching Messi. But Moras said the whole team took part in trying to contain Argentina’s star.

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Everyone was focused on this player, and the whole team was built around him.

“Everyone was focused on this player, and the whole team was built around him,” Moras recalled. He said Greece enjoyed the chance to face Messi, while also recognizing that Argentina had many other major personalities in its lineup, including Martín Demichelis, Nicolás Otamendi, Juan Sebastián Verón, Sergio Agüero and Diego Milito.

Moras stressed that Argentina could not be reduced to Messi alone. Carlos Tevez and the other established players posed threats across the field, and the match itself showed that balance. “If you remember, Messi did not score the goal. The other players scored it, the players who were just as important and unlocked the game,” he said. Greece needed a victory but lost to Argentina, ending its campaign in South Africa.

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If you remember, Messi did not score the goal. The other players scored it, the players who were just as important and unlocked the game.