Argentina coach Diego Maradona said on Wednesday that Lionel Messi is maturing quickly with the World Cup ready to start in less than three month.

Maradona spoke Wednesday about the Barcelona forward and said he was able to speak with most of his star players on a recent tour of Europe.

Messi scored 10 goals in a string of four games recently, and is facing ever increasing comparisons to Maradona, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and a second-place finish in 1990.