'Would have liked Diego Maradona to give me the cup' - Lionel Messi on Argentina's Qatar World Cup conquest

Lionel Messi played a pivotal role in Argentina's 2022 Qatar World Cup success. However, he felt that there was one thing missing during the celebrations, as he wished for Diego Maradona to hand him the title or at least witness the moment.

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Argentine superstar Lionel Messi wrote the final chapter of his illustrious career when he lifted the coveted FIFA World Cup trophy for the first time in Qatar last month. It was also the first time La Albiceleste won the title since 1986 when late great Diego Maradona had handed it its second world championship. Unfortunately, the Argentine legend passed away three years ago and was not alive to witness the historic moment. On the same note, Messi has reacted for the first time since winning the title and expressed his sadness that Maradona was not alive to witness the moment and wished he would have been honoured to receive the trophy from him.

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Interacting to Andy Kusnetzoff in Paris, Messi commented, "I would have liked Diego to give me the cup, or at least to see all this, to see Argentina as world champions, with everything he wanted and how he loved the national team. I think from above, he – like many people who love me – was strong."

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Speaking on the WC title triumph, Messi remarked, "I had to choose the moment. It would have been this one. It's at the end of my career, closing a cycle. I achieved everything with the national team I always dreamed of. I got everything in my career, individually."

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"It was about uniquely closing my career. I never imagined that all this would happen to me when I started, and getting to this moment was the best. I have no complaints, and I can't ask for more. We won the Copa America [in 2021] and the World Cup. There's nothing left," added Messi, reports FotMob.

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Messi also stirred a controversy after celebrating a goal in front of Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal, describing him as "disrespectful" in a post-match interview, besides referring to Dutch striker Wout Weghorst as a "fool" in the same fixture. On the same note, the Argentine has confessed that he is not proud of his behaviour.

"I knew what Van Gaal had said, but it [the merrymaking] happened on the spur of the moment. I didn't like what I did. I didn't like what happened after. These are moments of nervousness, and everything happens very quickly," Messi concluded.