Speaking in the post-match press conference after qualifying for the 2022 World Cup final, Argentina captain and man of the match Lionel Messi had the following to say.
“I feel good. It wasn’t easy, we were tired, but the squad came back strong and we played a very serious game. We knew they were going to have a lot of ball possession because they have very good players in the middle, but we prepared well for the game.”
“This squad is very intelligent, they know how to read the moments of each match. As Scaloni said: we know how to suffer when we have to suffer and have the ball when we have to have it. We have a very good staff, who didn’t leave anything to chance. Their reading of each game is then confirmed. We didn’t despair when we had to run from one side to the other, we knew that possession of the ball was their strong point.“
“The first match (defeat against Saudi Arabia) was a very hard blow. We came out of 36 matches without defeat. To start like this against an opponent against whom we did not expect to lose was a very tough test for this squad. But we showed we were strong. We improved game by game. What we did was difficult, because every match was a final. We played five finals, we won five. Let’s hope this is the case for the next one… Internally, we were very confident because we know this squad. We lost the first match on details, and that made us grow.”
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