Messi hits back at referee conspiracy: “nothing was handed to us”
The 8-time Ballon d’Or winner spoke about Argentina’s journey at the World Cup.
The world wanted Egypt and England to win; now they want Spain to do the same. That’s how the narrative is going around this World Cup, that Argentina have been handed the easy route, that the football Gods are on their side, that FIFA, simply and bluntly put, would enjoy them wining the World Cup.
And to be fair, Gianni Infantino’s comments that came after the game against Cape Verde, didn’t help: “Tonight, I suffered with Argentina," he said in a video that quickly went viral following the nervy win the South Americans pulled off against the minnows.
Believe what you want about whether you think refereeing decisions were right or wrong, fortunate or otherwise. Those debates will rage on long after the tournament is over and Argentina are either losing finalists or crowned back-to-back champions. But what you can’t deny is their bite, their hunger to win. For Messi.
And Messi himself has now had his say.
“Once again, we’ve established ourselves among the top two teams in the world”
Speaking after the game against England, which saw him unlock their stern defence from an almost new position, Messi reaffirmed Argentina’s case to become world champions once again.
“We’ve been the best over these past four years, either you like it or not, and no matter what anyone says,” Messi said. “Once again, we’ve established ourselves among the top two teams in the world."
“That proves that everything we’ve done is no fluke,” he added, before reiterating that “nothing was handed to us.”
Lionel Scaloni, Messi’s manager, echoed his player’s message: “we knew there was no help‚” he said, “there is no favouritism, it’s the opposite. It’s very tough [for VAR] to favour anyone.”
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