"Lionel Messi has said he would gladly give all of his Barcelona medals and titles back in order for Argentina to win the World Cup. The Champions League and La Liga are important, of course, but the World Cup is still the ultimate prize in football.
Messi knows that if he’s to indisputably join the likes of Pelé, Zidane and Diego Maradona in the pantheon of all-time great players, he has to win it. Argentina have an advantage this time round with it being staged in South America, so there may never be a better opportunity. 
They have the players too. Higuain, Aguero, Mascherano, Di María, Zabaleta and Rodrigo Palacio, will also probably feel they have something to prove ensuring that they’ll be as fired up as anybody.
During the South American qualifying process – which is notoriously difficult – they lost only one game, so I don’t agree with the people who say the team is weak defensively. We have all the power up front – you know, scoring for fun! – but at the same time this Argentina side don’t concede many goals.
The squad had the same unity going into the last World Cup, but the difference then was that the focus was more on Maradona than the players. The current coach, Alejandro Sabella, came to England at the same time as myself and Ricky Villa to play for Sheffield United, so I know him well. There was nothing about him then that really made me think he’d become a manager, but he proved himself winning the Copa Libertadores with Estudiantes. With Maradona it seemed to be 'What will be, will be.' He went into games thinking, 'We’ll sort it out on the pitch' – whereas Sabella is very professional and methodical in his preparation. He’s a calm man too, which translates itself to the players.
As important as their ability is the collective belief within the group. From the very beginning of the 1978 World Cup we thought, 'We can do this!' There was no doubt either in the manager’s mind that we would win the tournament. Maybe not in public, but behind closed doors certainly, Sabella will be saying the same thing: 'We can win this!' I think that is a huge part of what’s needed: everyone having the confidence that they can go all the way. I think they are going to do it.”