Picture Credit: Twitter
Lionel Messi fans, the time has come for your idol! Messi has confirmed that Qatar 2022 will be his last T20 World Cup. The Argentine captain said that he is excited as well as anxious for this year’s World Cup as it’s going to be his last one. Messi also talked about Argentina’s chances. Notably, the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup is slated to be held in Qatar across eight venues starting from 20 November.
A total of 32 teams from five different confederations will take part in the quadrennial event. Two-time champions Argentina will also be featuring in the event and will fancy their chances under Lionel Messi. However, it will be a tough challenge for the La Albiceleste considering they have not won a World Cup since 1986. This is the reason Messi does not consider them among the favourites to win the title.
Nevertheless, the bigger attraction is that Messi will not be playing a World Cup after this. Although he is physically fit to play, he won’t wait for another four years. The Argentine has featured in four editions so far wherein he has netted six goals in 19 matches. In an interview with Pollo Vignolo, the Argentine footballer shed light on his plans for this year’s World Cup and beyond.
“If it is my last World Cup? Yes, surely yes, surely yes. I feel good physically, I can have a very good preseason this year that I hadn’t done the year before because of how everything went, I started training late, playing without rhythm, with the tournament already started, and then I went to the national team, when I came back I had an injury and I never finished starting”, he said in Star+.
“I am counting the days for the World Cup, the truth is, there is a little anxiety of wanting it to be already and the nerves of saying well, we’re here, what’s going to happen, it’s the last one, how is it going to go and yes, on the one hand we can’t wait for it to arrive and on the other the shit of wanting us to do well”.
“I don’t know if we are the great candidates, but Argentina itself is always a candidate because of history, because of what it means, more so now when we arrive, but we are not the favourites, I think there are other selections that are above”, he remarked.