Former Inter Milan star Diego Milito has said that Mauro Icardi cannot take his starting role with Argentina for granted, given they are many excellent strikers within the national team pool. The Nerazzurri captain has recently become a regular feature for the South Americans upfront with Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain out of the fray, though the duo could return before the Copa America during the summer.
Speaking to Tencent Sports, Milito said:“It was true that Icardi had just completed a great season, but there are many excellent strikers in Argentina and I have shared the same feelings [having not been selected for the 2010 World Cup. As I said before, we have many excellent players in attack, but I think I deserved more opportunities.”
Meanwhile, when asked about the Lionel Messi situation, Milito felt that the Barcelona star needs more support from his teammates on the national fold where the pressure is frequently on him to deliver, he added: “Nowadays Argentina is really too dependent on Lionel Messi. The best players in the world should take a certain responsibility but teammates should give more support to him.”
“Argentina were hugely disappointing at the summer World Cup where their defensive“ line was frequently breached from the opposition. As such, they could only “progress until the round“
of 16 stage of the tournament where they were ousted 4-3 at the hands of France, who were eventually crowned the new World champions.
Since then, they have gone through a period where they have bagged four victories from six international friendlies. During that time, there has been a drastic improvement on the defensive front with five clean sheets with the only blemish resulting versus Brazil against whom they suffered a 1-0 defeat. Brazil won the game in dramatic fashion with an injury-time goal from Miranda.