Messi spoke to Clarín: “I’m happy with how I’m living and enjoying every moment of this World Cup”

No one wants to leave the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, lit from the outside in the colors of Argentina national team and inside it still vibrates with blue-and-white fans and the same players who are still on the pitch singing and jumping to the sound of the stands, with Lionel Messi to the head. The captain, top scorer and star of the quarterfinals hugs everyone again and again. They call him for anti-doping control, but the analyzes have to wait a few more minutes. Because Leo is willing to treasure every moment of this World Cup.

“I’m happy with how I’m living all this, enjoying every moment. It’s crazy every time we go out on the pitch to see people, how they live it and enjoy it, what they pass on to us. It’s very special see my family and my children, specially. See how they suffer and how they enjoy themselves. How happy they are when things go right. My family already has the World Cup and Copas América, but for them (through their children) it’s the first time they understand what a World Cup is and the importance of each match. For me, that’s very exciting,” she says, calmer in the mixed zone.

And focuses on his three children, Thiago, Mateo and Ciròand how he shares this experience with them: “We talked about the World Cup, the matches we played. They live the World Cup with great intensity. I am living it very calmly and I enjoy every moment. For me, with experience and at this age, it makes you see everything in a different way. It’s a great joy to be able to enjoy it with the people here and in Argentina. I hope it lasts and we can move forward.”

On the night of his thousand games, Leo managed to score and even the victory was given so that the combo was complete for him and for Argentina: “It was something beautiful to be able to live it like this, to be able to score the goal and live it like this, with victory and passing”, he says clarionalthough he threw off answering if it was one of his best performances in a World Cup: “I don’t know”.

He doesn’t like speaking much in the singular. He always prefers to focus on the group. “Argentina is a power and is always among the best. Before arriving we were among the candidates and we we had to prove it on the pitch and luckily we are. We have taken another small step,” she warns.

Saving of Emiliano Martinez Eventually it crippled several here in Qatar and the Argentine Republic. What does Messi think of the last ball? “We end up suffering from farting because we had the game under control with the score 2-0 and they found the goal out of nowhere and started hitting the ball into the box. It’s a World Cup and there are moments when you suffer. It would have been crazy if they had tied us in that game and had to go to extra time after the game we had played,” he replies.

He anticipates that “He will be very courageous against Holland”, but assures that “these days of rest will come in handy because we used up a lot in the previous game and now after three days we still had to make a great effort against a very physical team”.

Before getting on the bus waiting for him with the whole team banging on the windows, Messi reflected on who he sees as candidates: “We watch all the games we can. Brazil it is far beyond the defeat he had with Cameroon. He continues to be one of the big favourites. France and Spain, in addition to going the way it did and losing the last match, are a team that plays very well and has clear ideas about what they’re doing. It’s very difficult to catch the ball“.

And he says he was surprised by the early removal of Germany: “They had a lot of important players. It’s a young team who are among the best and it’s surprising that they were excluded again in the first round. But this is the World Cup, this shows the hard what is it and how much is everything the same. It is no longer the name of the team that counts, but what you see on the pitch.”

Amidst the fatigue of tape recorders, microphones and telephones, the 10 thanks and leaves with the tranquility of having once again made many Argentines and, above all, his family happy.

Al Rayyan, Qatar. Special delivery.