“Messi is now the grandfather of the forest”: the harsh criticism of a Polish legend after the World Cup draw

All the teams qualified for the Qatar 2022 World Cup already know perfectly the path they will have to take to lift the long-awaited trophy. The fate meant that Argentina will be the top seed of Group C, where it will face Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland.

In this way, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski, two of the big favorites of the last Golden Ball, will face each other on November 30 at 974 Stadium. Beating this promising match, Antoni Piechniczek, Polish coach during the 1982 World Cup in Spain, launched a controversial analysis of the Rosario's present.

The coach who led his country to a historic third place in the World Cup declared in dialogue with NateMat that the Flea is “the grandfather of the Forest” and that even Lionel Scaloni could put him as a substitute in Qatar.

“I am interested in this clash, although I admit that I would have been more interested in this duel if Lionel Messi had been five or six years younger. Or if he was Lewandowski's partner. We may be excited about such a competition, but let's be honest... Messi is now the 'grandfather of the forest'. This is no longer the footballer he was just a few years ago. It is not fully known what role he will play in the World Cup in Qatar”, the 79-year-old strategist, who was also the coach of Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.

Although the 10th comes from being Albiceleste's scorer in the South American Qualifiers alongside Lautaro Martínez and being key to winning the Copa America in Brazil 2021, the DT questioned the role of the PSG man in the World Cup: “It is possible that the coach will decide to put him on the bench in the current form of Messi. In order not to frighten other young players of the Argentine national team, he can play a role as Zlatan Ibrahimović in the Swedish national team. Playing the last 15-20 minutes of the match, entering as a substitute.”

“It may happen that Messi plays a sensational tournament. I don't know about this, but this option cannot be ruled out, because in football there are always surprises. However, seeing what he looks like in the colors of Paris Saint-Germain, he is not the same Messi as before,” he concluded about the 34-year-old tip, who in the current season scored 7 goals and provided 11 assists for the whole of the French capital.

On the other hand, he agreed with the area played by the Polish national team: “It's hard for me not to be happy. This is a group within our reach. I think we can be optimistic about the fact that we have the opportunity to qualify for the next round. I'm just talking about possibilities. We cannot lose ourselves in thinking that the World Cup has not yet started, and that we have already defeated these opponents.”

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