Xavi HERNANDEZ has given his opinion on Lionel MESSI, Javier MASCHERANO and the Argentina National Team.

A World Cup and two time European Cup winner himself, Xavi HERNANDEZ knows a thing or two about winning tournaments. He also knows a thing or two about Lionel MESSI and Javier MASCHERANO after having shared a locker room with them for years. In an interview with TyC Sports, Xavi gave his thoughts on why he thinks Argentina have not won a trophy and even had some strong comments about how MESSI and MASCHERANO might not have enjoyed playing with Argentina. Here’s what he had to say:

“Argentina did not have the luck that is needed for a title to be achieved. They would have to be more united in order to achieve an important trophy.

“When I was in Barcelona, I got the feeling that (Lionel MESSI and Javier MASCHERANO) did not enjoy playing with their national team.”

Xavi on Argentina’s World Cup Qualifying struggles:

“The pressure of having a country qualify to a World Cup, to play well and to win is making Argentina play with urgency. It’s a national team with an incredible history and has a lot of weight and for that reason it complicates things. But if they qualify, they’re a candidate to win the World Cup.”

“I can’t imagine a World Cup without MESSI. The South American qualifiers are like a European tournament, I am sure they will qualify and they will be one of the candidates to win the trophy.

“MESSI has great teammates. MASCHERANO knows him very well and Ever BANEGA is a player that I love.”

“In Argentina, the players who go to the national team are not valued, the qualifiers are terrible, I do not understand the criticism towards them.”

Xavi also spoke about Spain’s success at the 2010 World Cup:

“Barcelona lent the idea of play to Spain. The players’ adaptation to the idea was fundamental.”