DOHA, Qatar | Just when we thought Lionel had just given us his magnum opus before retiring from international football, he pulled off another feint.
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He has actually told TyC Sports that he has no intention of retiring from international duty after this triumph. “I don’t retire internationally. I want to keep playing for Argentina to honor the world title. This is the title I was missing and here it is. It’s crazy. He forced himself to wait. I can’t wait to celebrate it in the country and see the madness there.
“We suffered a lot. What more could you wish for today? Football really is a crazy sport. Winning the World Cup is every kid’s dream. This is for the Argentine people. »
And his coach, Lionel Scaloni, has every intention of making room for him as long as he wants one.
“As for the 2026 World Cup, if he wants to continue, he will be with us. He has the right to decide what he wants to do with his career and whether he wants to continue playing for the national team. He passes on a lot of knowledge to his teammates, it’s extraordinary to see. »
We would have liked to tell you more about Messi, but he stayed on the pitch more than two hours after the end of the game and after three and a half hours of waiting at the press conference, he still hadn’t turned his nose up.
Complicated way
Argentina didn’t choose the easiest way to achieve this victory, allowing France to climb twice in the score.
Coach Lionel Scaloni recognized this immediately and would have liked his team to play less with fire.
“We are world champions but we have to come back to this incredible game. We could have won in 90 minutes but we didn’t make it.
“We were fighters and worked hard despite the goals we conceded. We don’t deserve to have to play these expansions. »
We suspect the Blues took the hit after their two comebacks.
“In the end it’s cruel because we bump into something we could have touched,” admitted coach Didier Deschamps.
energy level
The difference would have been in the energy of the two teams and Deschamps admitted his team had regrets because they could have done better from distance.
“In the analysis of the game there is the first 70 minutes where there was an opponent who had a lot of energy and aggression.
“We came back from nothing by reversing a situation that was very vulnerable. That’s what triggers even more regret. We have a World Cup ball at the last minute and that doesn’t smile at us, ”he mentioned Emiliano Martinez’s save against Randal Kolo Muani.
Argentina has been making arrows out of random wood for a year and Lionel Scaloni is one of the craftsmen.
His team just won the World Cup but also won the Copa America last year.
“We must celebrate that. Over the next few days we will take a step back and recognize what we have just achieved. »
For Maradona
The manager also thought of Diego Maradona, who passed away just over two years ago.
“He would be safe with us. Lifting this trophy has long been a dream in a football-loving country. He would have been first on the field. »