Xavi Hernandez, coach of the Spanish club Barcelona, \u200b\u200bthis evening, Thursday (February 23, 2023), said in the European League, “The atmosphere is always prepared for the best player in the world and in history. This is his home and the doors always remain open for him,” speaking about the possibility of the return of Argentine star Lionel Messi to the Catalan castle.
Saudi Arabia, shortly after Portuguese national team captain Cristiano Ronaldo joined the ranks of the Saudi victory, and perhaps a possible return to Barcelona, who fought all his professional career among its ranks, until 2021.
According to press reports in Spain this week, Messi’s father and his agent, Jorge Messi, recently met with Barcelona’s president, Juan Laporta, to discuss the potential future of his son at the Catalan club.
Xavi confirmed that he is in constant contact with Messi And that “a large part of this matter is in his hands (Messi) regarding his aspirations for the future.”
Over the years, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta formed a magical trio at FC Barcelona, especially under the management of coach Pep Guardiola.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
After a long absence from coronation
Messi’s first World Cup title after Argentina missed winning it for 36 years. After winning the title, Lionel Messi said that he did not believe that his country’s national football team had ended its long waiting period to win the World Cup, after the exciting victory over the French national team in the final match of the Qatar World Cup 2022. Argentina had previously lost the final match twice in the 1990 edition. and 2014.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Bitter tears of defeat
Messi participated in five World Cup tournaments during his career and was very close to winning the coveted trophy in the 2014 Brazil Finals, but his team lost the final to the German national team with a goal in the last minutes, as he shed tears of defeat after shattering the childhood dream of raising the Gold Cup as a world champion. .
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
The dream that came true
Lionel Messi is the first player in history to be crowned the best player in the World Cup twice, as he won it in the 2014 and 2022 tournaments. The first time he climbed the podium to win the award, his eyes kept pouring towards the coveted trophy. Which he raised eight years later, he raised it as a champion in Qatar, becoming the first player to lose it as a team captain, to return to crown it later.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
The most matches in the World Cup finals
As soon as he entered the Qatar final match against France on Sunday, Messi broke a record, displacing former German star Lothar Matthaus, as he became the player with the most matches in the World Cup finals with 26 matches. Matthews played his 25 matches in the 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998 finals.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Participation in five editions of the World Cup
With his participation in the World Cup in Qatar, Messi reached another record represented by the number of World Cups he played (5), similar to his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the tournament in the quarter-finals, and Matthews as well.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Captain of his team in the finals
On Sunday, Messi was also alone with the record for the number of matches in the finals that he played as captain, with 19 matches, surpassing Mexican Rafael Marques (18), followed by his compatriot, legend Diego Maradona, with 16.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
From the groups until the final match
With his first goal against France, he became the first player in history to score in the group stage, the quarter-finals, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the final of the same tournament, a number that no other player had ever reached.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
The most delved into the minutes
“The Flea” added another record on Sunday as the player who spends the most minutes in the World Cup, after raising it to 2314, ahead of the Italian Paolo Maldini (2217 minutes).
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
assists
Messi also became the only player to make assists in each of the five versions in which he participated, and after him comes Pele, the Polish Grzegorz Lato, his compatriot Diego Maradona and the Englishman David Beckham, who made goals in three different versions.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Miroslav Klose equals
And Messi alone achieved another achievement, as he is the only player to score in the World Cup when he was in his teens, twenties, and thirties. Messi has so far achieved 17 victories, equaling the record registered on behalf of Miroslav Klose.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
A record for Argentina
Winning the title set a record for Argentina, as it became the first country in history to hold the Copa America title to win the World Cup, after it was crowned in the 2021 Copa America and Messi’s first title in the tournament.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Youngest coach since Menotti
As for the coach of the Argentine national team, Lionel Scaloni, he became the youngest coach to win the World Cup at the age of 44 years and 216 days since his compatriot Menotti with Argentina when he won the World Cup in 1978 at the age of 40.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Third boss
Scaloni also became the third coach in history to win the Copa America and the World Cup after Mario Zagallo (World Cup 1970 and Copa America 1997) and Carlos Alberto Pereira (World Cup 1994 and Copa America 2004).
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Sign up for major tournaments
Lionel Messi scored the most goals from South America in major tournaments with 26 goals (13 of them in the World Cup, and another 13 in the Copa America), after breaking the number of the Brazilian phenomenon Ronaldo with 25 goals (15 in the World Cup, 10 in the Copa America).
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Eternal glory to Messi
The headline “The Eternal Glory of Messi” topped the Argentine press, reflecting the general feeling prevailing in Argentina, which waited nearly twenty years for its star to succeed in lifting the only cup absent from his coffers, and to join the late legend Diego Maradona, who gave the country its second title in 1986.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Crazy what happened
After winning the title, Messi said: “It’s crazy that it happened, but it’s amazing. It’s amazing that it ended in this way. I said before that God will give me this title, I don’t know why but I felt it would be this time.” Messi ruled out the possibility of retiring from international football after winning the World Cup. “I want to play some more matches as a world champion,” he explained.
The path of tears to the World Cup.. Messi and Argentina, numbers of gold
Congratulations from Pele
Brazilian legend Pele congratulated Messi and consoled Mbappe after the 2022 World Cup final. Pele wrote on the Instagram platform: “Congratulations to Argentina, Diego is smiling now.” The 82-year-old star expressed his sympathy for Kylian Mbappe, who lost the title despite scoring two goals from a penalty kick and scored another goal, becoming the second player to score a hat-trick in the history of World Cup finals since former England star Geoff Hurst in 1966.
