Topics: Friendly, Spain, Argentina, Diego Costa, Lionel Messi
The Spanish striker opened up the scoring for La Roja in what turned out to be a historical match for both sides.

The game between Spain and Argentina ended in utter embarrassment for La Albiceleste, considering that the 6-1 score line matched their two worst defeats in history.

Maybe without being aware of such facts, Diego Costa addressed the media after the game. The Atlético Madrid striker, who scored the first goal of the game, referred to the harsh criticism to which Messi is subject every time he plays for Argentina, and stepped up to defend him from all the haters in the South American country.

"Some of you back in Argentina criticize Messi harshly, but it's really different to face your team when he's on the pitch and when he's not. You can't go around criticizing Messi, you have to thank God for being able to lplay alongside him. You have to treat him right, even if he has a bad game. Having him on the pitch changes everything," Costa stated.

Messi left his box seats with 13 minutes left in the game due to Spain's superiority over La Albiceleste, causing a number of negative comments against him.

The former Chelsea striker asked fans not to rush into their judgements, since both teams have issues to solve prior to the 2018 World Cup.

"We have to look at all aspects of the game. We had a great game against a top contender, but Messi's absence was truly noticeable. Speaking about our team, we want to achieve something big, we have a good squad thinking about our games in the World Cup," Costa added.