<p>Nearly a year after guiding Argentina to World Cup glory, Lionel Messi thought back on the difficult route and turned scorn into admiration back home.</p>
<p><img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-295105″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-after-argentina-won-the-world-cup-lionel-messi-expressed-gratitude-for-their-exten-750×422.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com after argentina won the world cup lionel messi expressed gratitude for their exten” width=”928″ height=”522″ title=”After Argentina won the World Cup, Lionel Messi expressed gratitude for their extended journey and said he would stay as long as I feel good 21″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-after-argentina-won-the-world-cup-lionel-messi-expressed-gratitude-for-their-exten-750×422.jpg 750w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-after-argentina-won-the-world-cup-lionel-messi-expressed-gratitude-for-their-exten-1024×576.jpg 1024w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-after-argentina-won-the-world-cup-lionel-messi-expressed-gratitude-for-their-exten-768×432.jpg 768w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-after-argentina-won-the-world-cup-lionel-messi-expressed-gratitude-for-their-exten-390×220.jpg 390w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-after-argentina-won-the-world-cup-lionel-messi-expressed-gratitude-for-their-exten-150×84.jpg 150w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/theindiaprint.com-after-argentina-won-the-world-cup-lionel-messi-expressed-gratitude-for-their-exten.jpg 1296w” sizes=”(max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px” /></p>
<p>“I had a negative experience. My loved ones and my family also did. A generation of players was treated unfairly by Argentine critics, who also said a lot of negative things about me. In an interview for the “Champions, a Year Later” special on Disney Star+, Messi highlighted the victory of winning over the Argentine people. “I’m not spiteful,” he said.</p>
<p>“Today 95% or 100% of Argentines love me, and that’s a beautiful feeling,” said Messi.</p>
<p>Messi emphasized that his greatest desire was to win the World Cup with Argentina while looking back on his remarkable career with Barcelona.</p>
<p>It’s what the majority of people want. The greatest dream of all is to win a global championship with your country’s squad, as Messi put it.</p>
<p>“I had the good fortune to succeed both individually and as a member of Barcelona. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was this. Thank God, I am one of the very few athletes who can claim that they have accomplished everything,” Messi said.</p>
<p>After making his Argentina debut in 2005, Messi won his first significant competition in 2021 when he defeated Brazil in the Copa América final. Heartbreaks like losing in the Copa América competitions in 2011 and 2016 were part of the path.</p>
<p>Messi offered the maxim for success in team sports: “If you put in the effort, sacrifice, work, and humility, in the end, you achieve your goals.”</p>
<p>Messi recently voiced a great desire to stay with the squad, even though he had pondered retiring after the 2022 World Cup. Messi remembers the Copa America with mixed emotions, especially the 2016 edition that took place in the United States. Despite making it to the final, Argentina was defeated by Chile on penalties.</p>
<p>“As long as I feel good and I can continue to deliver, I’m going to do it (continue playing with Argentina),” Messi said to ESPN.</p>
<p>“After that, only time will tell whether I’ll attend the World Cup. “I will be 39 years old, which typically prevents me from participating in the World Cup,” he said.</p>
<p>Six CONCACAF visitor teams will compete in the 2018 Copa America; Argentina will find out who their opponents are on December 7th when the draw is made.</p>
