"He will be welcome" - Gabriel Batistuta hopes Lionel Messi surpasses him as Argentina's highest scorer at FIFA World Cups
Argentina legend Gabriel Batistuta hopes to see Lionel Messi become his country's top scorer at the FIFA World Cups.
Batistuta scored 10 goals in 12 games for the Albicelestes in the tournament. Messi, meanwhile, currently has nine goals for his country across five editions since 2006.
He has played 23 games and passed Diego Maradona's tally of eight after scoring against Australia in the Round of 16 game on Saturday, 3 December.
Batistuta was asked about Lionel Messi getting past his record tally. He told Ole, via Ge Globo:
“It's a record I've had for 20 years and I've enjoyed it. Now it's fair that someone else gets it and if that other one is called Messi, he will be welcome."
Batistuta's best performance as a collective in the tournament was a quarter-final appearance. Messi, meanwhile, has already reached the finals of the tournament with his country in 2014.
Lionel Messi is too unpredictable 😳🔥 https://t.co/dPmtKEG5Yc
Batistuta bemoaned the fact that he never got to play in the latter stages of the tournament. He said:
"I get angry because I didn't have many games. I played a first phase, a round of 16 and a quarterfinal. It makes me very angry. They didn't give me a semifinal or anything like that."
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has named the four favorites to lift the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has named four teams that he believes are the favorites to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) attacker backed his country to win the tournament, saying:
"Argentina are one of the candidates. Argentina are a powerhouse and are always among the best. We knew we were one of the candidates, but we had to prove it on the pitch and we proved it again against Australia."
Rodrigo De Paul was keeping an eye out for Messi 😂 https://t.co/wHcHh0ZZ7n
Apart from his own country, Messi picked Brazil, France and Spain as the other favorites for the tournament. He added:
"Brazil are doing very well, despite the defeat against Cameroon. They are still one of the great favorites. France are also doing well and Spain, despite losing to Japan, are a team that play very well, that are very clear about what they do and it is very difficult to take the ball away from them, as they control possession for a long time. It will be difficult to beat them."