Lionel Messi said on Thursday he did not want to see Argentina's head coach, Diego Maradona, get sacked but also said it was just part of the game.

"Of course, I didn't want to see him to go. I believed he would stay. But that is just soccer," the Argentine superstar said during a news conference at the Shunjing Spa Hotel.

The striker also refused to predict the chances of Argentina winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

"There are four years to go. We have a lot of work to do. I think it is too early to talk about winning the next World Cup," said the 23-year-old, who failed to score in four World Cup matches in South Africa.

Legend Maradona was sacked last week after Argentina lost 4-0 to Germany in the Cup quarterfinal after an 18-month stay in the job, but he was on the list of candidates to fill the position, according to the national football association.

The spokesman of the association, Ernesto Cherquis Bialo, said the name of the new coach would be announced in October.