"I personally think it's the team that makes you win these very difficult championships," Heinze said three days before Argentina's opening Group B match against Nigeria.
"Lionel is the best in the world, the player who today is in his best form, but Argentina do not depend on Lionel," the battle-hardened 32-year-old told a news conference.
"Argentina depend on each one of the players who go onto the pitch. We don't need to put any pressure on Lio or anyone," he said after a team practice.
"We all lose and we all win (together) and Lio is one more (among us), it's impressive what he does but he's a human being and people forget he can have good days and bad days.
"Let's hope he has them all good for the good of Argentina. I hope the team is the star of the World Cup," said Heinze, like Messi a member of the Argentina squad that reached the quarter-finals in Germany in 2006.
"It's down to us players whether he's a good coach or not. Hopefully at the end of this championship Maradona will have been the best coach."
