Regarding the conquest of the World Cup in Qatar 2022, the Rosario said that he “closes the circle” of his sports career, that at 35 years old he is going through the final stage with an astonishing partial statistic of 1,006 games, 794 goals, 42 titles and 78 individual awards, including 7 Ballon d’Ors.
“I had said it years ago: I knew that God was going to give it to me, that he had it reserved for me. If I could have picked a moment to win it, it would have been this. The World Cup closes the circle of my professional career, ”he considered.
Messi expressed that since December 18, 2022 “everything changed” because what he had dreamed of and desired over time was given.
“From that day on, everything changed for me. What I dreamed of and wanted so much during my career came true. I said it before it happened. Everything I imagined was going to be small, it was much more than I imagined ”, he acknowledged from his house in Paris in a talk in which he went through all the experiences of the month lived in Qatar.
“It is difficult to explain what I felt. A lot of things cross your mind and you can’t believe we made it. That is to say ‘that’s it, it’s over, it’s over’. I had to achieve everything in my career and this was closing my career in a unique way”, remarked the man from Rosario.
During his review of the path of the team in the World Cup, the captain admitted that after the defeat against Saudi Arabia they were the “toughest” days but that he always trusted the “group”.
Accompaniment
In this sense, he valued the importance of having the support of his family. “I really enjoyed everything, before and after the World Cup. It was an impressive month of my life. Thiago was crazy, Mateo did the math and Ciro is the one who understands the least but they lived it as fans. When we came back we missed the day to day in Qatar. We had a great time, ”he recalled.
“There were times with many disappointments, lost finals and I received criticism of all colors. I knew that my family suffered like me or more and they showed me that they were strong. Unfair things were said that went beyond football and that bothered me and hurt me. Now with the Copa América and the World Cup there is nothing left, it is over, ”she said, with relief.
The “Flea” also admitted that he did not like the “image” he left during and after the spicy match against the Netherlands for the quarterfinals of Qatar 2022.
The “Topo Gigio” celebration directed at the Dutch coach Louis van Gaal and the “Go there, fool” dedicated to Wout Weghorst were two of the most remembered events, but Messi admitted that he did not like leaving “that image”.
Regarding the “Topo Gigio”, the “10” said that “it came out at the moment”, while during the World Cup he was in contact with Juan Román Riquelme, his former teammate in the national team and the player who patented the celebration.
“I knew everything that had been said before the game and my teammates said to me ‘Did you see what he said? When all that was over, I didn’t like what happened but these are moments of great tension and nervousness. And everything happens fast. It was not thought out at all, ”she pointed out.
“I spoke with Román because he wrote to me during the World Cup. I knew that he had a couple of meetings with Van Gaal in Barcelona and we discussed it, ”he said.
After the game, in the middle of the mixed zone, the “Go there, fool” was immortalized, destined for the Dutch striker Wout Weghorst and this is how Messi explained it: “It was natural. Many things happened on the field with that player and moments of tension, friction and also the fever with the referee came together.
Regarding the final against France, Messi revealed that the night before he was able to “sleep well” and “calm” and although he said that he did not see the full game again, he did watch the “videos and summaries”.
One of the most viral was his image before the decisive penalty kicked by Gonzalo Montiel and Messi himself denied that he had named his grandmother or Maradona in the prayer to heaven. “I don’t remember well, I was talking to ‘Cachete’ so that he would put it in and not make us suffer anymore. I asked God for it to end, ”he narrated.
Then he talked about the kiss he gave the World Cup trophy outside of the award protocol. “I saw her there and I couldn’t not do what I did. The Cup called me and said ‘come, grab me’. I saw that it was shining in that beautiful stadium and I did not think about it, ”she maintained.
In this sense, Messi recognized that the image of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil “will always be there” and “will not be erased” but now it has been “on one side”.
After several hours in Qatar, it was time for the trip to Buenos Aires and the reunion with the people who had vibrated throughout the World Cup with the national team.
“I feel that we gave them an unforgettable and indelible month. People spent a month without caring about anything other than waiting for the National Team match, a month alone and for the World Cup. And that it ended this way made the Argentine people explode with happiness, ”he stressed.
Fanaticism
The joy for his image with the World Cup was not exclusively from the Argentines since Messi also felt that fans from other countries wanted his coronation.
“It is incredible and inexplicable, I think it never happened or at least I don’t remember it. People wanted to see me with the Cup, ”she estimated.
Leo He also praised Lionel Scaloni and his coaching staff. They are spectacular, they know what the National Team is because they lived through it and they are former players who went through everything we went through. They knew how to handle themselves and what to do or say at all times”, assessed Messi, who highlighted “the group management” of the work team headed by Scaloni and made up of Pablo Aimar, Walter Samuel and Roberto Ayala.
The captain highlighted that the Argentine team “in general” was “better” than each of the rivals throughout the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “We always knew what we had to do. We prepared the game with our idea but always with a detail to manage it in our favor. I don’t think he was wrong in any of the seven games”, said Messi, author of seven goals.
He considered that the most difficult moments were after the defeat in the debut against Saudi Arabia and the first part of the duel against Mexico. “The match with Mexico was the most difficult to play and the one we played the worst because we needed to win no matter what, but I was confident that we were going to get through,” said the captain.
Finally, Messi reflected on his career and confessed what he would say to the boy who left Rosario for Barcelona to fulfill his dream of playing soccer. “I would tell him that something extraordinary awaits him that he could not imagine. That he is going to have a very beautiful path, with hard moments to overcome, but that he does not give up his dream because he is going to have the most desired reward from him. It is a movie with a happy ending, ”he completed.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
