Lionel Messi compares Diego Maradona to World Cup closing

“Maradona,” he sang, “is cheering on Lionel from heaven”.

The parallels between two of Argentine soccer’s all-time greats, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, have gotten extra placing than ever in Qatar. Just because the 1986 World Cup a spotlight reel for Maradona, Messi has made his mark within the match with a string of targets and assists, guiding Argentina to the 2022 closing.

Messi has at all times had echoes of Maradona – his measurement, his dribbling abilities, his fast ft, the stick of his left foot. Add to that the management and combating qualities proven by him all through the match and it actually seems like Messi is imbued with the spirit of Maradona as he closes in on the final word prize of soccer.

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Jorge Valdano, who was a part of Argentina’s victorious World Cup crew in 1986, mentioned in an interview to the TYC sports activities channel, “Messi is playing Maradona in the World Cup.”

It was on show in Messi’s newest encouraging efficiency as Argentina stormed into their sixth World Cup closing after thrashing Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday. And nothing summed up his magnificence greater than his help for the third objective scored by Julián Álvarez.

Receiving the ball on the touchline simply inside Croatia’s half, Messi picked up on a problem from Josco Guardiol and raced down the best. Guardiol adopted, holding on to the Argentina captain’s jersey, and was mesmerized when Messi dropped his shoulder and swung the opposite solution to flip and sneak into the world. Then got here a easy right-footed cross which Alvarez slotted house.

It was one other second of magic in a match that has been full of Messi.

Messi mentioned, ‘Personally I can say that I really feel very completely happy on this complete World Cup. I’m completely having fun with it and luckily I might help my total crew make issues occur.”

After the match, an Argentine reporter conducting a post-match interview with Messi broke off from asking questions and instructed him that all the pieces that occurred within the closing had managed to go away a mark on the life of each Argentine and within the nation. was bringing happiness

And for Messi, it’s now extra than simply successful soccer matches.

“It is no longer just the result, but the path we have travelled,” he mentioned. “In Argentina, winning or losing used to be important, but I think people value other things now.”

Be that as it might, however successful the World Cup would cement his legacy, putting him alongside Pele and Maradona amongst soccer’s biggest gamers. He could already be there, however being a World Cup winner will finish the talk.

Messi reiterated that this might in all probability be his final stint on the World Cup – he’ll flip 39 through the 2026 match within the United States, Canada and Mexico. And he is dancing on the sector and within the locker room after the match, as Argentina bounce again with 5 wins after a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia within the first World Cup.

Messi mentioned, it was a troublesome take a look at for the entire crew however this crew proved how robust we’re. “We received the following matches. What we did was very troublesome as a result of each match was a closing and it was a psychological burden as a result of we knew issues would get extra difficult for us.

“We managed to win 5 finals and I hope it stays like this for the final sport. Internally, we believed we might make it as a result of we all know what we’re able to as a crew. “

After a win over the Netherlands within the quarter-finals, Messi mentioned that Maradona – who had died two years earlier – was watching over the crew as Argentina got here by way of a sizzling, livid match.

Messi mentioned, ‘Diego is watching us from heaven. “He’s pushing us. I hope it stays like that till the end.”

Well, in the long run it could be Messi. And he is doing his finest impression of Maradona alongside the way in which.