LIONEL MESSI
Herrera talks about US Open Cup final vs Lionel Messi: “He is the best in the world”
Houston Dynamo captain, Héctor Herrera, spoke ahead of the US Open Cup final against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
Inter Miami and Lionel Messi are preparing to play in their second final this season when the Herons face Houston Dynamo in the US Open Cup, who are the next team that will seek to stop Tata Martino and co.
Looking ahead to the match, the captain of Houston Dynamo, Héctor Herrera, spoke in an interview with EFE about his expectations of the clash. The midfielder will meet Messi again after coming up against him at the Qatar World Cup 2022; on that occasion, Argentina beat Mexico, with Messi scoring the opener.
Messi ‘the best in the world’
In the interview, Herrera highlighted that the presence of Messi, who might be in line to start, fills the Houston Dynamo squad with extra motivation to go out and win the US Open Cup title next Wednesday.
“We know that it is going to be a very difficult game that will require us to be one hundred percent and focused for more than 90 minutes”, Herrera said. “We are very motivated and confident that we can achieve something important, but we know that they are a very strong opponent led on the bench by Tata Martino and on the field by the best in the world. For us, that is extra motivation,” Herrera explained.
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Stopping Messi is ‘impossible’, says Herrera
Herrera, who has faced Messi on many occasions at the national team level, also explained that it is incredibly difficult to have a plan to stop the Argentine star, since he is capable of changing the course of a match in the blink of an eye.
“There’s a reason he’s the best in the world. Every time I faced him, there are times when it seems like he’s not in the game and he wakes up for five minutes and changes the pace and direction of it. It is difficult to say ‘you have to do this or that to be able to stop it’, because it is impossible. He is difficult to decipher, we have to work as a team and be prepared when it is time to defend. He is the best in the world for my way of seeing football and that has to give us extra strength,” he concluded.
