Argentina stars Lionel Messi and Emiliano Martinez on cloud nine after reaching World Cup final

Lionel Messi and his Argentine teammates shakes hands with Croatia’s Ivan Perisic on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi and his Argentine teammates shakes hands with Croatia’s Ivan Perisic on Tuesday. Picture: Georgi Licovski EPA

Published Dec 14, 2022

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Johannesburg - For many it was written in the stars that Argentina will win the 2022 World Cup, which could potentially be the perfect send-off to long-serving stalwart Lionel Messi.

La albiceleste reached the final in Qatar following their impressive 3-0 win over Croatia on Tuesday.

For Messi, it will be a second World Cup final. Argentina reached the 2014 final where they lost 1-0 to Germany. The Paris Saint-Germain star is also in contention for a second Golden Ball award at the World Cup. He is the top scorer and assist provider in Qatar, having scored five goals and registered three assists.

Messi has described reaching the final as being crazy.

“I don't know if it's my best World Cup or not. I've been enjoying this a lot for a long time. We were confident that this group was going to pull it off. We know what we are and we ask the people to believe in us,” Messi said.

"We have been through tough situations, other very good ones. Today, we are living something spectacular. I'm enjoying it with all of these people and all the Argentines that are in our country. I imagine it has to be crazy.

"We knew were not the top favourites, but we were not going to gift anyone anything. We showed it match by match.”

Meanwhile, Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has said that he “cannot believe” his team are in the final. The ascendency of Argentina to being a team capable of winning tournaments has coincided with the ascension of Martinez to being the side’s first-choice goalkeeper.

He only made his international debut in 2021, but with him as goalkeeper, they won the 2021 Copa America which was also the first major international trophy of Messi’s long international career.

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With the 30-year-old in goal, Lionel Scaloni’s side are on the verge of World Cup success.

"I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. We lost the first game, all of a sudden everything was upside down, people doubting us because obviously we lost our unbeaten run of 36 games," Martinez said.

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"Against Mexico, we were a little bit sloppy in the first half. Everyone wanted us to lose, so it's us against the rest of the world.

"I'm so glad this group of 26 players are all fighters and we have 45 million Argentinians all behind us. We feel the crowd, the streets are full of Argentinians and every time we play we are at home. There's always 40 or 50 000 Argentinians in every ground and we're so happy to have them."

@eshlinv

IOL Sport