Valdano: “Messi told me that if he was world champion, he would stay in the National Team until the next World Cup”

Jorge Valdano, winner of the World Cup in 1986, revealed the details of a conversation he had with Lionel Messi before the final against France and said that the Argentine captain wished: “If I am world champion I leave the shirt on until the next World Cup.” In this World Cup he did not run much and was very decisive. I did an interview with him a week before the World Cup and off camera I made a joke about him. ‘Well, you’re going to be among those who have played five World Cups,'” the former striker began. He continued: “Before leaving, he tells me that ‘if I’m world champion I’ll leave my shirt on until the next World Cup.’ I do not know. This euphoria will help him to be a while longer in the shirt of Argentina. We will see if he reaches another World Cup”, in dialogue with the Cope.In this sense, he commented: “I never saw him so relaxed or mature. He has had more pressure than in his entire life, but he has been more liberated. They are paradoxes of football. Winning the Copa America at the Maracana helped a lot because it freed Messi.”  While he made a comparison between Diego Maradona, his captain in 1986, and La Pulga: “They seem to be two geniuses, who have marked by fire the time they have played football. The difference is that Diego was 26 years old in Mexico, he was in the fullness and Leo is 35 and already has a physical conditioning. Not only did the genius have to jump, but also the wisdom to tell us that we are facing a player of superior category. I have never seen so many people wishing that a country would win for one player. They gave the King the crown he needed,” he said. Finally, he highlighted Lionel Scaloni, who was strongly criticized by locals and strangers in his beginning and maintained that he never ‘stole’ the role from the players. “They believe him and love him. He made the right decisions. Introducing Enzo Fernández, Mac Allister, Julián Álvarez, players who were not in the Panini figurines, have ended up being key,” he concluded.

Original source in Spanish