The reason the 2010 World Cup disaster matter is because it paints clearly that the pressure Messi has been living under is inhumane and can't be compared to anything anyone has been through. To understand Argentina's disastrous run in the 2010 World Cup, you have to imagine that the national team was being coached by Piers Morgan. This is not an exaggeration.
Maradona, the Coach
In 2008, Maradona became Argentina's coach. The story of his hiring could summarize Argentina's football history. Maradona became Argentina's coach after 13 years without a club. Prior to those 13 years, he was coaching only two nameless clubs. Maradona didn't have coaching experience or knowledge yet people believed he'd bring the World Cup, just because he is Maradona.
Maradona didn't only not know what to do, but he also didn't know who to ask. Argentina never had the greatest bulk of players going into any World Cup in recent years, but in 2010 in specific saw 4 Argentinians on top of the world with Inter as Mourinho led them to win the treble. This Diego Milito, who was easily the best striker in the world during that period. Maradona didn't want to take him because he plays for Inter Milan because he didn't like the way they were playing.
Inter Milan also had Javier Zanetti, who is easily Argentina's greatest full-back in history, and the man who stopped Messi in the UEFA Champions League semi-final. Along with Zanetti was Walter Samuel who was easily Argentina's best centre-back at the time. And of course, Esteban Cambiasso, who again was Argentina's best and most versatile midfielder at the time.
When people around Maradona saw that he didn't want to take any Inter players, they suggested he still takes Milito just to save face. Maradona did take Milito and put him on the bench, he also took Samuel and put him on the bench. He didn't take Zanetti and Cambiasso, who not only were the best answer to their positions but were the only ones, more on this later.
The 2010 World Cup Disaster
Argentina came up against Germany in the 2010 World Cup quarter-final, ahead in the match Maradona was asked about Muller and he told the press that he thought he was the "ball boy". Muller, who was Germany's top scorer in the World Cup at the time and ended the World Cup joint top scorer overall was the "ball boy" according to Maradona. It was a circus.
It was a circus because of what Maradona did in that game. Here's Argentina's starting eleven against Germany
[A screenshot from Fifa's match centre]
Maradona played 4 defenders and didn't include Walter Samuel and opted to not call up Zanetti and preferred playing Otamendi as a right-back, he also left out Cambiasso and opted to have Mascherano alone with two wingers, Di Maria and Maxi Rodriguez with Messi, Higuain, and Tevez up front. He split his team in half, with 5 attackers and 5 defenders, even in 2010, you wouldn't even dare to do that in PES or FIFA.
After the match, Maradona said that he kept Mourinho's number next to him the night before and consulted him in tactics. Mourinho! Maradona consulted Mourinho before playing 5 attackers and one defensive midfielder against Germany in the quarter-finals, and Muller is the "ball boy". Mourinho! The same coach Maradona said he didn't like his style in the same team he didn't want to bring players from. I will leave it to you to judge whether Maradona was telling the truth here.
Still, Maradona didn't miss the opportunity to get the spotlight and get a hug from Messi. This run is well-illustrated by BBC's 2010 World Cup's Most Shocking Moments
Messi, the Scapegoat
Who do you think got crucified for Argentina's disastrous run in 2010? Messi or the coach who didn't call his best players, behaved like a clown during his run, and played 5 defenders and 5 attackers against Germany? Of course, it's Messi. Messi's shirts were burned in Argentina after that run, he was called a coward, a mercenary, Xavi and Iniesta's creation, and not a true Argentinian. Most of the nonsense you hear about Messi today originated after that World Cup. This is the level of insanity Messi has been living with since he was 22.
It is actually unfair to compare Maradona to Piers Morgan, but not to Maradona. When it comes to football, Piers Morgan says what he says on Twitter or in a studio, not a press conference at the World Cup. Piers Morgan says what he says knowing that no one is taking him seriously. Piers Morgan would admit that he is a clown before playing 5 attackers against Germany in the quarter-final of the World Cup. Finally, Piers Morgan would take responsibility for his actions and not hide like a coward behind a World Cup he won a quarter of a century ago.
Instead of Maradona getting blamed for what he did and wasting one of Argentina's best generations, Messi was the scapegoat. This was the beginning of Messi's relationship with Argentina as he wasn't starting in the 2006 World Cup. The beginning of Messi's relationship with Argentina is being held responsible for the 4-0 loss to Germany, Cambiasso left at home for Mascherano to be a lone midfielder, Zanetti left at home for Otamendi as a right-back, "consulting" Mourinho, and Muller is the "ball boy".
So, no. No other player has been put under as much pressure as Messi has been throughout his career. Messi not only was required to play as he did at Barcelona when he had a decent manager, not only needed to win with a "great" Argentinian team but he was also required to fix his coach's nonsense. Messi should have taken the ball and scored it himself five times and he should have played as a midfielder next to Mascherano.
Messi was playing under that coach while being compared to him as a player. At the same time that coach, as a player, Maradona, and this is something that I don't know why everyone is so scared of saying, didn't accomplish anything with Argentina that wasn't directly associated with a scandal.
In 1986, and this is something we all know, Maradona scored the first goal against England from a clear handball. Even in 1990, when Argentina reached the final, Maradona and Argentina's then coach, Carlos Bilardo, both admitted to having spiked Brazil's players' water ahead of their 1990 clash. Maradona's only consolation is that his moments of brilliance came shortly after his worst moments, in 1986 it was the goal of the century, and in 1990 it was his assist against Brazil. One carried another.
The Biggest Problem in That Comparison
No one would let Maradona's action fly today. Maradona undisputedly cheated during the times he was most under pressure, the kind of cheating that wouldn't fly today, yet, compared to Messi, it's Maradona who's called the prime example for Messi to behave when it comes to handling pressure and being a leader. After that, Maradona is the one mocking Messi for his "lack of leadership skills" and "going to the bathroom 10 times before a match".
Messi's pressure is that he needs to compete not to be better than Maradona but just to be put in the same sentence.
In Conclusion
Maradona was enjoying humiliating and insulting Messi over and over. But, those actions and statements wouldn't have been normal if Maradona didn't have that halo around him. Messi had to live suffering statements like that from Argentina's God, having his shirts burned, called names by the people that even his own son asked him why they wanted to kill him in Argentina.
Messi was required to fix everyone else's mistakes and just win the World Cup and it didn't matter the fact that football is a team's game, not only the players but even the coach.