Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 08:43• Wessel Antes

Lionel Messi will play his last World Cup for Argentina in November. The 35-year-old Argentinian has made it no secret throughout his career that he wants to add the most prestigious title in international football to his palmares. A new anecdote about the phenomenal left leg of Paris Saint-Germain shows once again how bad that wish is.

Fabián Soldini, the discoverer and first agent of Messi, does in an interview with infobae open a book about his pupil. As a Barcelona player, Messi was unable to sleep well for a year after the lost 2014 World Cup final against Germany (1-0), thinking about that game in Brazil. “When I was at his house, after not seeing him for ten years, he told me: Fabi, I’ve been waking up every night for a year now thinking about the final in Brazil. I can’t sleep.”

For Messi, winning the Copa America in 2021 was one of the most important things in his life, Soldini claims. “I was very happy for him because I know how much he suffered. The national team is his great love, not Barcelona or Newell’s Old Boys. He will do anything for the national team.” Soldini therefore hopes that Messi and Argentina will take the win in Qatar. “I think he deserves it.”

The Argentines open the World Cup on November 22 with a game against Saudi Arabia, after which a duel with Mexico awaits. Finally, the team of national coach Lionel Scaloni closes the group stage with a game against Poland. Messi currently stands on 164 caps for Argentina, in which he was good for 90 hits and was a principal 51 times. According to Soldini, he will do everything he can to celebrate the overall victory in Qatar. “He is willing to die for the national team.”