- Lionel Messi has been preparing for this moment
- Argentina has been holding its breath in the meantime, praying the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner avoids an untimely injury
- Messi participated in his first World Cup as a teenager in 2006 and has since amassed a record 164 caps and 90 goals
Knowing that his fifth World Cup with Argentina will likely be his final opportunity to win the title, Lionel Messi has been preparing for this moment.
He returned a week early to Paris Saint-preseason Germain’s training in July, and ever since then, he has appeared to be a man on a mission, determined to arrive in Qatar in the finest possible condition.
Messi is back to about his best after a challenging first season at PSG in which he fought to get over the pain of his departure from Barcelona. This season, Messi has scored or assisted 26 goals in 18 games for his side.
Argentina has been holding its breath in the meantime, praying the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner avoids an untimely injury.
Messi participated in his first World Cup as a teenager in 2006 and has since amassed a record 164 caps and 90 goals.
While he led Argentina to the World Cup final in 2014, Jorge Sampaoli’s team suffered a crushing defeat to France in the round of 16 thanks to Kylian Mbappe, who is currently Messi’s colleague in Paris.
At the age of 35, Messi still has a remarkable desire to win the World Cup, much alone score his first goal in the World Cup’s knockout rounds.
“I feel good physically at the moment. Better than last year, when I arrived at PSG. But when I said this could be my last World Cup, I did so because of my age. After this one finishes we will see how I’m feeling,” he added in a recent Directv Sports interview.
“For us, like for all Argentines, it is difficult to be calm, because we are contenders to win the World Cup.
“But to win the World Cup you need lots of things to go in your favour, in any given match or in the competition as a whole. But we are going there to fight and we are ready to take on anyone.”
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