After a tense first half, Argentina managed to overcome the Mexican marking and won by 2-0 at Lusail Stadium, this Saturday (26), in a game of Group C of the Qatar Cup.
“It was a difficult game for us to go up because Mexico has a great coach. When we calmed down, in the second half, things started to settle down for us. We started to hit more passes between the lines, which is our strong point”, said Lionel Messi .
The Argentine star said that in the first game —defeat against Saudi Arabia—, there were many youngsters in the team debuting in their first World Cup.
“There’s no excuse, but there were two isolated plays. We didn’t make it 2-0 by inches. [no primeiro tempo]🇧🇷 Today we had to win and we did it”, amended the number 10, remembering the several goals lost by the South American team in the early part of the game, some annulled by VAR.
Messi also commented on the talk surrounding his ankle after the first game. “I don’t know why so many things were said, the truth is that the other day they were talking about the ankle and nothing had happened, and it was only at the last minute that I started to feel pain. It seems like it was on purpose, but I trained normally.”
About the match against Mexico, the player said that in the first half the team did not find spaces. “We were aware that we had to play more calmly. The victory was a relief for the entire dressing room and a great joy.”
The outcome was a relief for the Argentine star, who asked the fans to keep their confidence in the team. “I hope the fans keep trusting. Today we showed the union we have. We knew it would be like this and we showed that we are prepared to fight. We can’t take everything for a match. When we are united we show that we can achieve beautiful things”, he concluded.
The importance of the number 10 shirt on the team was also highlighted by the Argentine coach, Lionel Scaloni. “We corrected it at halftime and started to play better, hitting the middle. The 10 [Messi] he defined the game and he knows he has a group behind him that supports him”, he said.
Scaloni exalted, however, the collective side. “It’s exciting to see our players play. Those who don’t identify with this selection are because they don’t like the Argentine national team. It’s not the same thing to play with this shirt or another”, he said during the press conference.
Midfielder Di Maria also pointed to experience as a decisive factor for the victory. “We’ve been here for years [na seleção]🇧🇷 We tried to give it our all and today it happened again [o triunfo]🇧🇷
“Today we managed to bring joy to people, to us, to our families. We keep fighting, as always, trying to give everything. Fortunately, today it happened and it’s peaceful for everyone”, said Di Maria.
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