Lionel Messi is going to his fifth World Cup with the illusion intact. Like when he made his debut in the most important competition for national teams in Germany in 2006, but with the experience that his 35 years and a career in blue and white give him and that in the end he had his prize with obtaining the Copa América 2021 and this year’s Finalissima. The World Cup would be a golden achievement for Rosario in the final stretch of a brilliant career that will always leave him among the greatest players in history.
A little over a week after the Argentina national team’s debut in Qatar (on the 22nd, against Saudi Arabia, starting at 7 pm Argentine time), the national team captain assisted Olé in Paris and offered an interview in which he shared his feelings in the prelude to a new World Cup. He touched on all topics and was excited about a new opportunity to win a title with the national team and to be the third Argentine captain in history behind Daniel Passarella and Diego Maradona to lift the most coveted trophy.
On the day Lionel Scaloni confirmed the 26 players who will be in Qatar, Messi compared the current group with the one that finished second in Brazil 2014 for “union and mentality”. But he also asked for prudence: “It would be a mistake to think about the round of 16. You have to think about the first game. Starting with a win would be fundamental.”
Complete interview of Messi with Olé
-Last year we were in Barcelona, we did a production before the Copa América. And look how it turned out… Are you a cabulero?
-No, not really. I don’t try. So yes, it depends on the moments, on how I hold on. I don’t try. I wonder if I did or not but overall pretty calm. A cabal for all the race… but no.
Hope it works for us…
-Let’s hope everything comes back, everything comes back, haha.
-What lessons do you draw from the four World Cups you played, from Germany 2006 to Russia 2018?
-Well, in the first one I was very young. I had fun and at the same time had the innocence and anger to want to play, to want more. On the one hand it is beautiful and on the other hand I missed enjoying so many things thinking about it. Then the 2014 World Cup, where we did very well, which was an unforgettable experience, where I had a lot of fun and where it became clearer than ever that the main and important thing is to be a strong and united group. Which in the long run takes you to the important finish line. Today I hear many similarities between this group and that of 2014 and all that process until the end of the World Cup. It seems very similar to me from that side, the group that has been put together, the group and the mental strength I think is very important. Then I think I was taught how to start the World Cup well and winning the first match I think is fundamental and it marks you a lot for the rest of the World Cup. And I don’t know, later I’ll extract the things I was learning.
-How do you take the pressures from the outside, beyond being a star? Without coaching, with group work? Argentinians take control of Qatar even if there are special dollars and it is expensive…
-Well, in terms of people it has always happened to us in all the World Cups that I had to be. In Argentina it was always difficult for people to get to the World Cup and they always went out of their way to be there. And he will continue to do so for who we Argentines are, for what we feel for the national team, because we want to be there and because we do everything to be there, both as a player and as a fan.
-And the pressure?
-In terms of pressure, I think we need to isolate ourselves from everything that people experience. Although we are very excited, we are also realistic and aware that we are having a good time; at the same time we have to know that it’s a World Cup, which is very difficult. Where all the details add up, any detail at the same time can leave you out of a game. That in a game anything can happen. that logic is not always given; that we must go from the first to the last game in the same way. It’s a group that always does that and whatever the match, they play it with the same intensity and concentration and I think it’s very important. And knowing that we will fight it but that we won’t be entry champions as we Argentines think.
-Of course, for example in the round of 16, logically, it would be Denmark or France…
-Yes, it’s already a mistake, thinking about the round of 16, but you should think about the first game. Starting by winning, as I said before, it’s essential to start off on the right foot, add three and I think it will give you peace of mind for the next one. Today we say it can be like this and like this and then it happens differently. We too In the last World Cup before leaving we were already first. We were already in the round of 16, we were thinking about the crossing and in the end it turned out differently. And I think that things that you don’t imagine always happen in the World Cup, which a priori are rare. And we have to think about the first game….
-Is it better to arrive undefeated? Because in the event of a mishap, we should see how the group reacts…
-No, the truth is that beyond the fact that it’s a good statistic and a record that will stand if we reach the goal and go to Italy (he has a record of 37 games), we haven’t even thought about that. And surely the bad guys will come at some point and we will overcome them. This group is prepared for evil. In fact we got off to a bad start, this group was formed when we lost to Brazil in the semi-final of the Copa América in 2019 and from there what was generated was generated. Well, I think we’ll be prepared, hopefully they’re not that bad, and we’ll move forward. But we are fine as we arrived, without thinking about the undefeated.
-Have you made any promises during your career? Like thinking about seeing yourself peeled or dyed or going to a Virgo at the end of the year.
-No, the truth is that I’m not one to make promises nor have I made any promises. I always just think that God decides, God knows when it’s time, what time it is and what needs to happen. And I am always grateful for everything that has happened to me both in football and in my life. What is to come, will come and I think he decides. I just think about it, the truth is, I’m not one to make promises.
-In this permanent coexistence in Paris, is there pressure from the older kids? Or Antonella?
-Today the truth is. Like the whole country, there is great anxiety in the family. Especially to Antonela, to Thiago. He always watches the videos of the national team, the possible matches, the matches, the rivals, when we leave, when it’s the first game, when it’s the second, he’s nervous, he’s anxious. The truth is, it puts me under terrible pressure.
-What would you like to have from a partner? Argentinian or foreign…
-I don’t know… at this point in my career… I’m telling you, at this point, wanting to have something different from someone else is already too late, it’s too late. My career, what I’ve done I’ve done. But on a personal level, everyone has their own personality or way of being. I like different personalities, but I don’t know if I could be one way, without naming any of them. nor in the game. It’s not that I mean that I don’t want anything from anyone, mind you. I am who I am and I am already an age.
-Lately you see fans who come looking for you and rivals who ask for your shirt, sometimes you have to say no-. What do you feel in those different moments?
-Well, players sometimes give me one thing, I tell him I’ve already promised another and he looks half ugly at you. ‘He’s lying to me’, ‘You won’t give it to me’, but I’ve already promised it to someone else. In all matches, most of the time I change both shirts. And then, the question of people, lately it has become clear that many things are happening, in some I got scared like in the last match of the national team (with Honduras in Miami) when the security arrived and they even hit me. But hey, they’re generally very cute displays of affection and for someone to do something like that with all that means and so crazy and what they do knowing what might happen to them next… Also, you don’t know what the hell to do, how are they doing? to act safely. Sometimes they are aggressive and it’s not even necessary. But yes, these are uncomfortable times for everyone because of what is being generated.
Sitting comfortably in the dining room of his home, with two cameras trained on him, the closing: -To close this note, as always, a final message for Argentines who dream.
-As always, we always say the same thing in front of some important competition. Thankful for all the love always. I’m as excited as you. And well, we hope to give our best as always and to fight, we will fight with anyone because this group fights all matches in the same way, playing better or worse. I have no doubt that it will give away nothing, that it can go well and I hope God helps us.
Source: Clarin
