Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have established themselves as two of the greatest football players of all time. It’s a phenomenon that has dazzled on the pitch with endless moments of brilliance for decades.
Opposing coaches and players have been up at night trying to figure out how to stop them. It’s no surprise, then, that the Brazilian national team and their coach, Tite, have spent a lot of time planning how to stop Messi in 2019.
In new Amazon footage, Tite is seen talking to his players as they prepare to face Argentina, captained by Messi, in the Copa America semi-final.
In the video, Tite said that, “Don’t try to take the ball away from him. If you do, he will dribble against you or you will give away a penalty. We have to realize that there’s one different player that we cannot neutralize but we have to diminish his actions.”
The 61-year-old coach then adds that he showed Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson the Champions League freekick that Messi scored against him. He then conducts freekick training sessions, with a particular focus on how the wall should be set up if Messi takes a free-kick.
Watch the video below:
I compiled some clips from the Amazon Prime documentary “All or Nothing: Brazil National Team.” These all come from the “Clash of Rivals” episode which is about the 2019 Copa América semi-final vs Argentina, the rivalry between the two nations and how Brazil planned to stop Messi pic.twitter.com/ex4HrjnbjH
— R (@Lionel30i) June 13, 2022
