Messi: “It was not just another victory, the Argentine people wanted it”

The captain of the Argentina team, Lionel Messi, confessed that winning the World Cup semi-final against England “was not just another victory”, “important for the Argentine people” and a ticket to a second straight final where they will face Spain, a “special” match against “a huge team”.

“Everything we experienced was incredible, from the beginning as we said. Although it was a soccer match, when we started to enter and in the anthem we experienced special sensations and the group felt that. It was not just another victory, it was an important victory which the Argentine people wanted and so did we and it got us into a new world final,” he said in statements collected by TyC Sports after the match in Atlanta (United States).

“It’s crazy to play two world finals in a row, this group is incredible. Today we went to look for them again when they had gotten ugly, they never stopped believing, trying. With play, today we played a lot when we were down with the score. We put them in a goal and enormous happiness,” he added.

Messi thus mentioned the tension experienced between the two teams, with the history of previous confrontations and with the Malvinas conflict also in the minds of many, until achieving one more comeback in this World Cup. “The truth is that what we are experiencing is crazy, how things are going. Honestly, before starting the World Cup I trusted this group and I knew that we would be among the four and we ended up getting into a new final, I think there are five in a row, it’s impressive,” he said.

The ’10’, who asked his fans to “enjoy” this moment, took a first look at the final against Spain this Sunday. “A huge team, with great players, with game. A team that I know well, a game philosophy that has been playing that way for many years. I know the players too, I have faced them, I follow them, several are in Barca, a team that I love and follow. It is a special match, a world final. I imagine that everything is going to be very close,” he commented.

“We have been the best during these last four years, no matter who it hurts and no matter what they say. Today, once again, we are among the two best in the world and that shows that everything we did is not a coincidence and no one gave us anything. Getting two world finals in a row is for few and this group achieved it,” he added about the criticism.

In addition, Messi confessed the specific preparation he carried out for this his sixth World Cup. “I had the decision until last year, always talking about it with Scaloni. I did everything possible to arrive in the best way, I have been preparing and training for a year. Spending December in Argentina, training in the morning and afternoon. I knew that I was going to give everything to try to arrive in the best way and to be able to enjoy it,” he explained.

“It was a special match with England, we could not lose. Although this group does not owe anything to anyone, we Argentines are like that, we always ask for more and I think that if we had lost today, people would have come out and said something stupid and we did not give them the chance. We knew that with football we were better than them but many things are at stake when it is a match of this magnitude and we had to win it,” he concluded.