Javier Mascherano says Argentina can win another international title but they need adapt to Lionel Messi in the same way Barcelona adapts to him.
"Our style of play is based a lot on the characteristics of the players," the Barcelona defender told ESPN Deportes. "Barcelona are molded in such a way so that Leo can have the freedom to start in one place but finish in another. And the entire team adapts to his movement.
"If Leo starts outside we play our regular 4-3-3 but if Leo during the match or a moment begins to go inside, we have our players who gives our team depth and if that depth is lost when Leo goes inside, sometimes our players such as Dani Alves or Ivan Rakitic adjust, or we have two players on the other side players who are very sharp, like Jordi Alba and Neymar, adjust.
"At the end, everyone has to accommodate him and it is difficult to find players who can do that."
As for Argentina, Mascherano suggests the squad need to do the same thing. Argentina are recovering from a shootout loss in the final to hosts Chile at Copa America, which led to media criticism of Messi.
Argentine media suggested that the Barcelona forward did not have the guts to finish off big matches and suggested that he retire from national team action.
Messi said recently he has no plans to pay attention to media criticism.
He delighted fans in Houston, Texas, on Friday as he scored two goals in Argentina's 7-0 win over Bolivia in the first of two U.S. friendlies. Argentina will take on Mexico at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Tuesday.
Coming off two straight final game appearances, Argentina are still in search of their first major title since 1993.
"When you have a player like Leo we have to adjust to his movements. The movements have to be according to how he moves. You can't put him in one box in one place, he would keep giving you things but you would lose so many others. Our movement has to be based on where he goes," Mascherano said.
"Our intelligence is in knowing how to occupy the spaces in important moments and take advantage of that. Even more so than how is Leo as a player we have to give him the tools so we can see the best version.
"At the end Leo is a player who has become a complete player but if you can use him in the last 30 meters that is where you will take most advantage of him. Because he makes a huge difference at the last 30 metres.
"The rest, at the end football is knowing your players, knowing that when your teammate has the ball, to where you should move. There are a lot of players here who know how to take out an advantage with respect to where there teammates are. I would say there are a lot of ways to do this.
"I am still a player so I don't want to get into it, but there is a lot of margin for learning."