Fabio Capello: Diego Maradona's Argentina 'Were Stronger' Than Lionel Messi's

Former Real Madrid, Juventus and England boss Fabio Capello has come to the defence of Lionel Messi after Argentina got their Copa America campaign off to a poor start with a 2-0 defeat to Colombia.

The Italian noted the comparisons Messi faces with Albiceleste legend Diego Maradona, who captained the side when they won the 1986 FIFA World Cup, but he said the latter had much more to work with.

He told Radio Marca: "People talk about both, but Maradona's Argentina were stronger and had more quality than Messi's. He's had good players in front of him, but in midfield and behind he has missed a defence, that's the important problem."

"Messi is extraordinary," he added. "He lives thinking about playing and not about business, like for example Neymar does."

Messi is yet to enjoy international success with Argentina outside of a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, though helped them reach the 2014 World Cup final and the final of the Copa America in 2015 and 2016, all of which ended in defeat.

He is La Albiceleste's all-time top scorer with 67 goals, but there is a perception that he should have achieved much more given he has had the likes of Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain alongside him during his career.

By contrast, Argentina's success in 1986 is often attributed to Maradona alone, with little credit given to his team-mates.

Journalists Carl Anka and Kevin Beirne discussed the Messi-Maradona debate and agreed that criticisms of the former are unfair:

Argentina opened the Copa with a poor performance against Colombia, and as football commentator Juan G. Arango and Argentinian football expert Roy Nemer observed, there are significant issues with the team and the coaching that are beyond Messi's control:

Coaxing coherent performances from the team is something successive managers have struggled with.

Lionel Scaloni is the ninth manager Messi has worked under at senior level since his international debut in 2005, and this is his first job as a head coach. He was previously an assistant to predecessor Jorge Sampaoli at Argentina and Sevilla.

The setup off the pitch has inspired little confidence either. Claudio Tapia is the third president the Argentinian Football Association has had since Julio Grondona died in 2014.

According to Arango, as recently as two years ago Messi and his team-mates not only had to pay for their own flights and accommodation while on international duty but also the wages of some AFA employees.

La Albiceleste will continue their Copa America efforts against Paraguay on Wednesday and Qatar on Sunday. The two sides aren't as strong as Colombia, so they might fare a bit better.

However, a run to the final or better will require significant improvement, and despite the influence Messi can have, that is largely out of his hands.