The legendary captain of the Argentine national team, Lionel Messi, denied his injury a day before the Argentine national team match against his Saudi counterpart, after a circulated image of him during Monday’s training raised concerns and questions about his suffering from swelling in his left ankle.
In his fifth World Cup, searching for the first title, Messi described himself as facing his last chance to carry the most important trophy in football history.
After training away from his teammates on Monday, Messi entered the dressing room, winked and insisted he was in perfect physical condition.
The 35-year-old star said: “I feel good mentally and physically. I heard it being said that I trained away because I had an injury but there is nothing strange, it is just a precautionary measure, there is no problem,” according to what was reported by the newspaper.Guardian“.
Messi said in his speech to his teammates, where 19 out of 26 players in the “Tango Team” list are participating in their first World Cup, that he is living “different moments in this tournament from the World Cup, and I have felt comfortable since my arrival here.”
“This is a special moment, certainly with my last World Cup, my last chance to get what we want,” he said.
“I don’t know if this is the happiest moment of my life, but I feel very good and more mature. I try to live every moment to the fullest and enjoy it.”
He continued: “Today I think I’m enjoying the game more than before, we used to play a game every three days and I didn’t have time to enjoy, just thinking all the time about the next game, to prepare for it and keep winning. Sometimes a lot of important things go unnoticed.” “I’m more aware of that now. Getting older makes you see things differently, to give more importance to those little details, things I might not have realized before. I’m focusing more on that now.”
He pointed out that what gives him optimism is “hope and enthusiasm,” considering that this team reminds him of 2014, “a similar group that is very united and clear about what it wants. This gives us confidence.”
Argentina’s 1-0 loss to Germany in Brazil, in the final of the 2014 edition, was among a series of painful defeats in five successive grand finals as Argentina asked every year when such painful losses would end.
And with a team now enjoying a rich mix of youth and experience, Messi’s spark has grown more than ever and he has become a man on a mission, as evidenced by his sudden surge in goalscoring with Argentina.
Coach Lionel Scaloni’s team has not lost in the last 35 matches, and Messi has scored 14 goals for Argentina since winning the Copa America title in July 2021, including all five goals in the victory over Estonia, to raise his score with the national team to 90 goals before his last participation in the World Cup.
“There were great moments, like in 2014, 2015 and 2016, but we didn’t win and we were criticized for not winning the title. We did everything right before those final matches,” said Messi, who has played more than 160 matches since the start of his career with Argentina in 2005.
In Qatar, Messi will seek to lead his team a step forward from what happened in Brazil, and confirm his place in the group of greats alongside his late idol, Diego Maradona.