Captain Lionel Messi has issued a strong warning to his Argentina teammates ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, while he also praised Brazil and world champions France.
Messi On 'Conflict' With Enrique At Barcelona
The 2021 Copa America champions are preparing for the tournament with perhaps an unwanted favourites tag hanging over their heads, leading to Messi insisting that his compatriots need to ignore the outside noise.
Speaking ahead of the start of the competition, the Paris Saint-Germain forward insisted that he and his teammates must take it one step at a time in the Middle East to ensure they guard against complacency.
"All national teams are tough to play against these days," he told Universo Valdano when asked about Argentina's chances.
"Every team [at the World Cup] will be difficult to beat.
"We have not had many games against European teams [in our unbeaten run], although they don't like playing against us either -- playing against South American teams is tough as well.
"We are in good form going into the finals, but we can't fall into trap of believing the hype that we are favourites and will win it. We have to be realistic and go step by step."
Messi then explained the threat that both France and Brazil pose.
"France are good," he added.
"They have some players injured, but they have a scary amount of potential in the squad. They have top players and a coach [Didier Deschamps] that has been there for a while with the same group and already won last the last World Cup.
"Brazil also have a core of players with a lot of quality, especially in the final third where they can beat men, they have good No.9s, Neymar.
Messi: Pep Has Done A Lot Of Harm To Football
"We have a good core, too, and players in good form as well. The injury to Gio [Lo Celso] was bad luck because he is so important for us, but others have come in. We are going to fight. That's the idea. But first, we have to focus on winning the opening game [vs. Saudi Arabia on Nov. 22]."
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments
WATCH VIDEO:
