Argentina's star man Lionel Messi needs his supporting cast to step up against Croatia

In his book, released earlier this year, Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli describes the pressure on Lionel Messi to carry the national team as like a loaded gun to his head.

“A revolver called the World Cup is put to his head and if he doesn’t win, it fires and kills him,” wrote Sampaoli in My Heartbeats. “It’s madness that we cannot enjoy his talent.”

Ahead of Argentina’s second group game, against Croatia in Nizhny Novgorod, Sampaoli’s words feel increasingly prophetic.

Messi missed a decisive penalty in the 1-1 draw against Iceland on Saturday and he has largely been blamed for the upset, which was labelled “a disgrace” by Argentina legend Diego Maradona and leaves them needing to win tonight.

“Leo shouldn’t shoulder all the responsibility,” Sampaoli said here in Nizhny yesterday. “We can all miss a penalty. When he scores for Argentina, we all take credit. But when Argentina lose, it’s always Leo’s fault. That’s unfair. It’s a lot of pressure.

“He’s the best player in the world but it’s impossible that a single player changes the direction of the match completely. He’s always able to give you an extra element but he can’t be held entirely responsible.”

The problem, though, is that so much of Sampaoli’s approach against Iceland was based on Messi winning the game single-handedly, just as he did in the qualifying win over Ecuador, when he scored a stunning hat-trick to book their place in Russia.

He finished the Iceland match with 11 shots (the second most attempts without scoring in World Cup history) and, too often, Argentina’s attacks were based on passing to him, while his team-mates stood back and admired.

Sergio Aguero’s thunderous goal was a reminder that Sampaoli has other world-class players at his disposal, but too many of them, including Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria, are struggling to perform.

Sampaoli admitted yesterday that part of Argentina’s issue is a lack of “football identity”, stemming from too many managers in a short space of time and, perhaps, a top-heavy squad, where the attacking talent is propped up by a shaky defence.

Against Croatia, Argentina will again look to their headline act, but he needs the support cast to step up. Sampaoli could switch to a back-three and start Boca Juniors forward Cristian Pavon, who impressed from the bench on Saturday.

But as Argentina and Croatia fans flooded into historic Nizhny, everyone was waiting to see Messi.

The forward must be facing internal pressures, too, particularly after Cristiano Ronaldo’s rip-roaring start to the tournament. Messi turns 31 this week and this could be his last chance at World Cup glory to go alongside his numerous individual honours and Barcelona trophies.

A debate continues about whether Messi “needs” to win a World Cup, like Maradona or Pele, to stake a claim as one of the great players in history and that will continue, even if he inspires Argentina to victory tonight.

Croatia will reach the last-16 with a win after they beat Nigeria 2-0, but they will be without forward Nikola Kalinic, who was sent home after refusing to come on as a substitute on Saturday.

The Croatians have their own talisman in Luka Modric, but he is only part of a star-studded midfield, who largely share responsibility for making the team tick. Sampaoli’s task is to find the same balance with Argentina and put an end to Messi’s solo game of Russian Roulette at this World Cup.