"The final cherries of an incredible career" - Pep Guardiola hails Lionel Messi as the GOAT after Argentina's 2022 FIFA World Cup win
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time after Argentina lifted the FIFA World Cup trophy on December 18. The Spanish boss added that his opinion of the Argentine would not have changed even if he did not win the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
La Albiceleste had a stellar campaign at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Their triumphant run to the final included victories over the likes of the Netherlands and Croatia. Argentina were able to defeat defending World Champions France in a truly scintillating final.
Pep Guardiola: “Everyone has opinion but nobody can doubt Lionel Messi is there as the greatest of all time. For me he's the best, difficult to understand a player can compete what he's done. The people who saw Pele or Di Stefano or Maradona…”
The matchup between Messi's Argentina and Kylian Mbappe's France was a spectacle to watch. It included sumptuous performances from the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) duo. The Argentine captain bagged a brace while the French ace scored a hat-trick at the end of extra time.
However, France came up short in the penalty shootout after misses from Aurelien Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman, losing to Argentina 4-2.
After the tournament, Guardiola was asked whether the former Barcelona man's status was now elevated. He replied:
"Everyone has opinion but nobody can doubt he's there as greatest of all time. For me he's the best, difficult to understand a player can compete what he's done. The people who saw Pele or Di Stefano or Maradona."
He added:
"The opinions are sentimental, but the other side, if he wouldn't have won the World Cup, the opinion and my opinion wouldn't change. It's normal that people depends if you win or you are evaluated. The final cherries of an incredible career."
The Argentina captain's heavily decorated career includes 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies and four UEFA Champions League trophies. He has also won a record seven Ballon d'Or awards, two more than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lionel Messi breaks record for the most-liked Instagram post with FIFA World Cup trophy photo
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has broken yet another record, but this time it's off the pitch. After achieving his dream of winning the FIFA World Cup, Messi posted a photo of himself lifting the trophy on Instagram.
The post has now surpassed the record for the highest number of likes on Instagram, with a whopping 69 million likes. The previous record was around 56 million likes and was held by a famous photo of an egg.
Messi's World Cup winning picture has also broken another record. Ronaldo's post on Instagram of the two superstars playing chess received 42 million likes, the most ever for a post by a sportsperson. Messi has now obliterated that record as well.