When There are Only a Few Days Left For World Cup 2018, Lionel Messi Predicts this World Cup To Be An Even One
World Cup 2018 is on the verge and the Argentine striker and captain Lionel Messi say this World Cup will be a balanced one… Lionel Messi is already heading an impressive team with good attacking talents.
Though the Argentine 23-man squad full of dangerous forwards, including Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala, and Gonzalo Higuain… But, still, there is a lack in the Argentine defense which has decreased Argentina’s possibility to win the cup…
Messi accepts Argentina may not rank among the major contenders, but he sees their individual quality as providing hope for a successful tournament.
“We are going with great enthusiasm and much desire,” the skipper told DeporTV.
A perceived vulnerability in defense has been raised as a barrier to coach Jorge Sampaoli’s chances of leading the country to its first triumph since 1986.
Argentina’s Training…
The total team had been practicing in the hometown of Messi’s football club FC Barcelona.
Messi says:
“We have been preparing very well throughout our training camp. We have great players on an individual level and we will fight as an equal to any team, even if we are not the favourites.”
Messi heads to the World Cup as the reigning Golden Ball winner after leading Argentina to the final in Brazil four years ago.
This time Argentina’s player atmosphere has been quite positive, with all the players doing well in the training. Also, the forwards like Aguero, Higuain seems to be chilled out with their captain…
A few days back in the training session Messi took a stunning free-kick which amazed everyone. So, though the team might have an average player age of 29.3 it seems positive this time.
Argentina as a team before World Cup
Messi says as being part of two squads to reach the quarter-finals, expects this installment to be decided by fine margins.
“I have taken part in three World Cups in three different situations because of how they were played, and in all of them I took positive things”
“The great favorites will arrive very well in terms of both their team and their individual players. I think this is going to be a very even World Cup.” Meanwhile, Patrick Kluivert said Messi “powers everything” for Argentina and the Barcelona superstar is “50 percent of the national team“.
Former Barca striker Kluivert admits his importance to the cause cannot be understated, telling Ole: “Messi is an important player, both for Barcelona and Argentina. I think he’s 50 percent of the national team. I do not think it depends only on him, but on a good day, he powers everything.
“Of course, he is human and one day you can wake up not quite right. Then things can be complicated for Argentina. In qualifying, when he was not there, the team suffered. They did not have the brilliance and could not win the games that with Messi they would surely have won.” Kluivert believes that in spite of his international struggles, Messi remains the finest player on the planet.
Argentina won the match versus Haiti by 4-0 where Messi scored a hattrick and the other match versus Israel was canceled…
“Messi, for example, is the only player capable of chang- ing the course of a match. I have seen it in Spain and also with Argentina, against Ecuador for example.”
Brazilian World Cup winner Rivaldo insisted Messi is yet to reach the same level as Diego Maradona in the eyes of the Argentine fans as he lacks international success.
