🚨🗣️New: Lionel Messi on why he started crying after receiving the silver medal despite the World Cup final defeat to Spain:
“I wasn’t just thinking about losing a final. I was thinking about everything that brought me here… every sacrifice, every difficult moment, every time people doubted us, and every time this shirt gave me the strength to continue.
“When I heard the Argentina fans chanting my name after the defeat, that was the moment that broke me. We had just lost the biggest game, but they didn’t turn their backs on us. They didn’t see a silver medal… they saw the journey. They saw the heart, the fight, and the pride we gave them.
“I looked into the stands and I saw families who travelled thousands of miles, people who dreamed with us, people who cried with us. That love is bigger than any trophy. Football gives you many victories, but moments like that remind you why you play.
“I cried because I felt the weight of the shirt, the love of my country, and the responsibility of wearing this badge. A medal can be silver, but the memories, the connection with the people, and the pride of representing Argentina… those things are priceless.
“Sometimes football gives you the perfect ending, and sometimes it gives you a painful chapter. But I learned that greatness is not only measured by lifting trophies. It is also measured by how you stand when your heart is broken.
“And hearing Argentina sing my name after losing a World Cup final… that was a victory of another kind. I will carry that moment with me forever.”
—🎙️Mixed Zone
SIMPLY... THANK YOU, LEO. 🇦🇷✨
Lionel Messi has played his final World Cup match. 💔🏆
It was a journey filled with records, goals, and glory. Your legacy and your 8 Ballons d'Or are eternal. 🌕
🔗 More about his golden career on https://t.co/qkKEZsNOIB!
#ballondor#worldcup #argentina #messi
As great as Rodri has been, not giving the Golden Ball to a THIRTY-NINE year old with 12 G/A who singlehandedly dragged a woeful Argentina side to the final is a joke.
🚨 Zlatan Ibrahimović on Lionel Messi not winning the World Cup Golden Ball:
🗣️: “What else did Messi have to do to win it? I genuinely don’t understand the criteria anymore. If you look back at 2018, Luka Modrić won the Golden Ball without winning the World Cup. So what changed now?
“Messi carried Argentina throughout the tournament, delivered when it mattered most, and was once again the player everyone feared. If that wasn’t enough, then tell me what is.
“It feels like the standards are always different when it comes to Messi. Every other player gets judged one way, but with him, people suddenly move the goalposts. It’s always against Messi.
“I’m happy for Rodri, but from a football perspective, I don’t think anyone had a stronger case than Messi.”