Former World Cup winner, Argentina teammate says Lionel Messi could play “many more years”

At 39 years old, Lionel Messi is coming off of his best World Cup campaign ever. He showed the world that he is still capable of playing at a world class level, and one his former teammates says this may not be his last World Cup.

Messi “has no ceiling says Di Maria

Angel Di Maria shared the same dressing room with Messi for over a decade and the two won the World Cup together in Qatar four years ago. Di Maria, like Messi has moved on from European soccer, and gone over the pond to finish off his career, but Di Maria doesn’t see Messi’s career coming to an end any time soon.

Following Rosario Central’s win over Belgrano Di Maria spoke about his former teammate. ”Leo has to keep going as long as he wants," the former Real Madrid and PSG forward said. “I think he can continue for many more years. At 39, he’s shown that he’s one of the best and that he can continue to be one of the best in history. He has no ceiling, there’s nothing more for him.”

This came after Leandro Paredes claimed that this summer’s World Cup wold be Messi’s last following their loss in the final to Spain. It would certainly make sense that this year’s World Cup would be his last, but it’s hard to believe after seeing just how good he was in his record setting sixth World Cup campaign.

Scaloni gets seal of approval

Messi didn’t just lead his team to a second straight World Cup final, he did it by setting personal records and World Cup record along the way. He opened the tournament with his first World Cup hat trick, before scoring three more goals in the group stages and became the all time leading scorer in World Cup history, eclipsing Miroslav Klose’s record of 16. A goal against Cabo Verde and a goal against Egypt left his World Cup tally at 21, a record that stood for only a matter of days.

Kylian Mbappé took the record from Messi with a brace in the third placed match against England, scoring a brace and raising his all-time tally to 22. If Messi wants to take the record back from Mbappe, he would have to stick around for another four years and look to reclaim his spot at the top of the chart.

Di Maria also talked about manager Lionel Scaloni, who did hint at stepping away from his post after the World Cup, but Di Maria has full faith in the coach he won the World Cup with in 2022. “Scaloni is the leader of the national team, I hope he stays for everyone’s sake,” Di Maria added. “He’s developing a good generation of young players who are coming through now, and every little bit helps. I hope he stays; it’s his decision. Scaloni, better than anyone, knows what he wants, but obviously, as an Argentine, I’d like him to continue.”

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