Having won a nail-biting final against France to secure the 2022 FIFA World Cup title, Lionel Messi has now insisted it was another team that provided Argentina with their toughest test at the global showpiece.
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Following their opening group-stage match defeat to Saudi Arabia, it was imperative that Argentina secure a victory against their next opponents Mexico if they were to progress from Group C.
In a toughly contested encounter, it took 65 minutes for seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi to open his nation's account for the match, before assisting Enzo Fernandez for La Albiceleste's second of the game.
Messi has now revealed that that match was the hardest for Argentina all tournament, not only from a footballing perspective but also because of the pressure that came after their defeat to the Saudis.
"The match with Mexico was the most difficult because of everything that was at stake, and it was the one we played the worst, because we had to win no matter what and that makes you play differently," the Paris Saint-Germain talisman told Urbanaplayfm.
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Messi also insisted that defeating the French in the final was the day he felt like he had accomplished everything in the beautiful game.
"I tell you that it is very difficult to explain what it feels like at that moment, but it is a bit of that – that's it, it's over, it's happened for me, I achieved everything with the national team, I achieved everything in my career, at Barcelona, individually, closing my career in a unique way," he added.
"When I started with all this, I never imagined it would be this way. Getting to that moment was the maximum."
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