Lionel Messi want to play as world champion, wont retire now
After Argentina’s thrilling World Cup final victory, Messi announced he has no plans to retire from international football.
The 35-year-old scored twice in a thrilling match against France, and he won football’s ultimate prize. Argentina led 2-0 at halftime thanks to his penalty and Angel di Maria’s first-half goal, but extra time was needed after Kylian Mbappe scored twice in 97 seconds.
It appeared that Messi had won it when he scored for the seventh time in Qatar, but Mbappe equalised again to send the game to penalties.
After 120 minutes of play ended in a 3-3 tie, the game went to penalties where both teams scored but neither could convert their spot kicks, allowing Gonzalo Montiel to give Argentina a 4-2 victory.
Even though Argentina’s World Cup campaign got off to a terrible start when they were shocked by Saudi Arabia in their opening group stage match, Messi led them into the knockout stages and scored in every round as he won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
It comes eighteen months after their Copa America victory and is their first World Cup title since Diego Maradona’s 1986 triumph. Here comes Messi’s defining moment, which has seemed more and more inevitable as the tournament progressed.
Messi stated after the game that the final would not be his last for Argentina in international competition.
Messi stated to TyC Sports, “No, I’m not going to retire from the national team.”
“I want to keep playing as World Cup champions with the Argentina shirt.”
He continued, “I knew that God was going to give it to me,” in reference to winning the World Cup.