Hater-Ass Diego Maradona Is Lowkey Shit-Talking Argentina's National Team Again

Argentina, you may remember, just Hulk-smashed the USMNT in the Copa América Centenario earlier this week to earn a spot in the Copa final—the third consecutive tournament title match the Albiceleste have competed in. Understandably, someone asked former Argentina great and current waterlogged gremlin Diego Maradona his opinion of the team. Predictably, his answer was dumb.

Here’s ESPN FC relaying the famously salty legend’s comments:

Maradona, who led the Argentines to World Cup glory in 1986, told C5N on Wednesday: “Of course I think we’ll win.”

But he also issued a warning to Tata Martino’s men: “But if you don’t win, don’t come back.”

Look, man, we get it. Your time has passed. That must be hard. So when camera crews show up to your doorstep to relive with you one of your finest moments from a lifetime ago—as was the case yesterday, the 30th anniversary of the Hand of God—it feels good to have the warm glow of the spotlight centered on you once again. When you then have to hear about the exploits of the team you’re no longer a part of—one led by Lionel Messi, a player many consider to have surpassed you in the Pantheon of all-time soccer greats and who recently became Argentina’s all-time leading goal scorer—it has to feel deflating.

So you lash out. You can’t go full idiot and claim that Messi actually isn’t good or something similarly ridiculous, but you can pop him with little passive-aggressive jabs to eat away at your would-be heir’s reputation amongst you countrymen who, for whatever reason, still hold your opinion on these matters in high regard. Like by saying Messi should be criticized for allegedly not giving his all for the national team the way he does for Barcelona, while at the same time offering a halfhearted defense of him against those who would treat Messi like a criminal. Or by calling him a “great person” who nonetheless has “no personality” and isn’t a real leader. Or, like with this newest example, heaping pressure on the team by assuming victory in the Copa final, and at the same time insinuating that failure to beat a very good Chile team would be such a catastrophe that the players and Messi himself probably shouldn’t show their faces back home.

But you’ve got to get over it, Diego. You had your time. Let Messi and the rest of the team have theirs.

[ ESPN FC]