"Football should reward Lionel Messi by giving him the trophy" - Ex-PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino hopes Argentina win 2022 FIFA World Cup
Former Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino hopes that Argentina win the 2022 FIFA World Cup for Lionel Messi.
The iconic Argentine forward is playing in his fifth and final FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar.
Messi, 35, announced that this year's appearance in the international competition would be his last.
The PSG man headed into the tournament in red-hot form, scoring 12 goals and providing 14 assists in 19 appearances across competitions.
He has already made an impact for Argentina, scoring twice in a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia and a vital 2-0 win over Mexico.
La Albiceleste are one of the favorites to win the FIFA World Cup, and Pochettino claims that everybody in Qatar is willing for Lionel Messi to do so.
Speaking to talkSPORT, the former Tottenham Hotspur boss said:
“I can feel here that everyone, football people, wants to see Messi lift the World Cup trophy. Everything Messi has given to football is like football should reward Messi by giving him the trophy."
Pochettino continued his assertion that Messi deserves the trophy:
“We need to wait, we need to see and hope everything will go well for Argentina."
1 - Lionel Messi is now both the youngest (18y 357d vs Serbia in 2006) and the oldest (35y 155d vs Mexico today) player to both score and assist in a single World Cup game since the start of the 1966 tournament. Longevity. https://t.co/e6Ak6fmI8l
The Argentine then commented on a potential FIFA World Cup final meeting between Lionel Scaloni's men and England:
“Of course for England also, why not a final? Argentina vs England should be amazing. England are doing well also.”
It is all to play for in Group C after Argentina suffered a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opener.
They hit back against Mexico and take on Poland on 30 November.
The Poles are top of the group with four points, with La Albiceleste in second.
They will qualify for the last 16 if they beat Poland, regardless of the result in Saudi Arabia's clash with Mexico.
Scaloni's side can also advance if they draw with Poland, and Saudi Arabia versus Mexico ends as a draw or Le Tricolor win by two goals or fewer.
Lionel Messi is Argentina's true leader at the FIFA World Cup
That is according to former Argentina right-back Pablo Zabaleta, who claimed that the Argentine great is guiding them through this year's tournament.
He told BBC Sport:
"He is not just our best player, he is the true leader of the team - even manager Lionel Scaloni has said that himself many times - and he will be helping them through this difficult start in that way too, not just by scoring goals."
Lionel Messi, the Man of the Match. 🇦🇷 https://t.co/m7n9JZuSAi
Lionel Messi was appointed the national team captain in 2011 and nearly led Argentina to the FIFA World Cup in 2014.
His side were agonizingly defeated by Germany in the final at the Maracana Stadium in Brazil after Mario Gotze's extra-time winner.