Alejandro Sabella: 'Argentina not over-reliant on Lionel Messi'

Alejandro Sabella has insisted that Argentina are playing well as a team, rather than being over-reliant on Lionel Messi.

The Barcelona forward has scored four goals so far at the World Cup, and played a key part in assisting Angel di Maria's winning strike against Switzerland in the last-16 encounter.

"Any team that has a player like Messi will greatly depend on him," Sabella is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "But I believe that what he's doing is the work of the entire team.

"He's the best player in the world, but he's part of a team. The goal [against Switzerland] came from a ball won by Palacio - a forward playing as a midfielder.

"He gave it to Messi and Messi received it in a good position, which allowed him to pass the ball to Di Maria. Four years ago he was criticised. Now they say we depend on Messi too much. It's not easy."

Argentina meet Belgium tomorrow evening with a place in the semi-finals at stake.