Lionel Messi: “We have played five finals and we have won five”

Hero of the night Lionel Messi spoke in his post-match press conference after Argentina advanced to the 2022 World Cup final.

The Argentina captain picked up the Man of the Match award in the 3-0 win over Croatia on Tuesday.

“I feel good. It wasn’t easy, we were tired, but the team came back strong and we played a serious game. We knew they were going to have a lot of possession because they have very strong players in the middle, but we prepared well for the game,” Messi said.

A sixth final for Argentina

Messi became Argentina’s top scorer in World Cups as La Albiceleste progressed to their sixth final.

“This squad is very intelligent, they know how to read the moments of each match. As [Lionel] Scaloni said: ‘we know how to suffer when we have to suffer and have the ball when we have to have it’. We have a very good staff, who didn’t leave anything to chance,” Messi added.

Argentina and Messi improve

The 35-year-old has gone from strength-to-strength at the tournament and opened the scoring after 34 minutes from the penalty spot. He admitted that the side have responded well to the Saudi Arabia group-stage defeat.

“The first match (defeat against Saudi Arabia) was a very hard blow. It came after 36 matches unbeaten. To start like this against an opponent against whom we did not expect to lose was a very tough test for this squad. But we showed our strength.

“We improved game by game. What we did was difficult, because every match was a final. We have played five finals and we have won five. Let’s hope this is the case for the next one. We were very confident because we know this squad. We lost the first match and that made us grow.”