Former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino managed the great Lionel Messi at the latter club and is a former Argentina international. He knows more about Lionel Messi than most and understands what soccer, the World Cup ...
I will always remember where I was the last time Argentina won the World Cup. It was June 1986 and they were playing West Germany in the final at the Azteca in Mexico City.
Afterwards, we all went into the town to celebrate together. It was amazing: there was a queue of cars heading into town, and then in the main square – there is only one square in Murphy – we were celebrating, shouting, sharing the happiness. Just like you saw in Argentina on Tuesday night after the semifinal win.
I was talking with Mario Kempes and Jorge Valdano about exactly this. It feels like a similar history. In 1986, the team understood that if they built the team around the best player in the world – Maradona then, Messi now – then everything would be possible.For me, this is the most important thing about this Argentina team, and why they are in the final on Sunday. It is because the players fully understand their jobs: when you have Messi in your team, you need to run for him.
And you can see the players are giving 120% to do this. Different players: Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Julian Alvarez, they are giving all they have and more, and they are doing it for Messi. They are giving everything because this is their dream, they are so close, and when they have Messi, they know everything is possible.And then there is Messi. I am Argentino, I played for Argentina, and always the dream when I was a kid was to win the World Cup.
He knows exactly how he needs to behave, not only on the pitch but off it as well. And I think that leadership he is showing is why people finally believe this could be the time when the World Cup comes back to Argentina.
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