Messi: Football owes me a World Cup

Cairo - 14 December 2017: In an interview with FIFA.com, FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi looks back at 2017 with a view to 2018 and the World Cup that he hopes to win, finally, with Argentina.

Messi is reliant on his national team despite their difficulties in qualifying for the World Cup: "We’ll be in good shape when we get there because we’re still growing. We had to go through something that we didn’t expect or deserve, because we had earlier matches against Venezuela and Peru that we could have won easily. If we had, then we wouldn’t have had to go through what we did at the end.”

“We’ve had four competitive matches with a new coach, but the national team’s going to change now that the Ecuador game is behind us. It’s going to grow and it’s going to get rid of all the tension and fear it felt because of that match and because of the risk of not achieving our objective. The national team’s going to change a lot,” He continued.

Messi is still bitter about the final of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which Argentina lost to Germany; and he recognizes that the wound has not yet healed:

"No! I don’t know if they’re ever going to heal. We’re just going to have to live with it. It’s going to be there forever. The World Cup is a very happy memory and a bitter one too because of how it ended, how it all worked out. But it’s always going to be there."



On his sporting career, the Argentinean legend feels very satisfied: "To tell you the truth, I never thought about how I’d be feeling when I got here. But I’m very happy with both my personal life and football. I’d say I’m in good shape on and off the pitch. I’m very pleased with where I am right now."

Messi also acknowledged that he has matured with age: "Yes, of course. You grow, and as time goes by you improve as well, picking up new things along the way. As I’ve grown older I’ve grown on the pitch too."

Messi remembered the decisive match against Ecuador: " It was very important because missing out on the World Cup would have been a huge blow, firstly for the squad as a whole and then for me on a personal level. I don’t know how I would have taken it. The same goes for the people of Argentina. Failing to make Russia would have been an all-time low for the country."

Was his best match with Argentina?: "No, I don’t know if I had to give it. I’ve had some really good games with the national team. What I can say is that with the way things turned out it was a very important and special moment for me.”

After qualifying for Russia, Jorge Sampaoli said that "football owes a World Cup to Messi." The Barcelona legend continued: "Yes, I did hear it, and he said it to me too. I hope football does end up paying me! (laughs)"