As Lionel Messi Reduces Argentina Boss To Tears With Gesture After World Cup Spectacle’ Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni struggled to hold back his emotions after Lionel Messi came up and gave him a warm embrace following the Paris Saint-Germain’s sensational display against Croatia in their World Cup semi-final.
Lionel Messi Reduces Argentina Boss To Tears With Gesture After World Cup Spectacle
Argentina would have been wary of Croatia’s defensive prowess after pushing Japan and Brazil all the way to penalties and winning both showdowns.
But Argentina possesses arguably the greatest player of all time and, despite being 35 years of age, he showed exactly what he’s capable of against Croatia and led them over the line to reach the World Cup final. It’s the second time in the last three World Cups that Argentina has been in the final with Messi’s nation losing to Germany back in 2014.
The Argentine sensation has admitted this will be his last World Cup though, adding more pressure on not just his shoulders, but the team as a whole. Scaloni was the man tasked with taking over Argentina back in 2018 and the dream was started to help Messi win that elusive World Cup trophy.
The pair’s relationship has developed over the years into a close bond on and off the pitch. And that was plain for all to see during the celebrations of Argentina’s win over Croatia on Tuesday night.
Messi approached Scaloni on the side of the pitch and gave him a warm embrace. The pair hugged for several seconds before Messi walked off and Scaloni stood there gathering his thoughts.
And the moment clearly got to the Argentine boss as he could be seen welling up in his eyes, before wiping away any early signs of tears. That wasn’t Messi’s only kind gesture to Scaloni though as the Argentine superstar singled out his manager for the excellent preparation heading into the semi-final.
“Scaloni had said it. It is a very intelligent group, who knows how to suffer when they have to suffer, have the ball when they have to, who knows when they can press, when there is to fold back,” Messi said. “Above all, they prepare the matches very well.
“They have a very good coaching staff, who leave nothing to chance. They let you know every detail of each match and then it happens.
“That’s a great help when we’re on the pitch. We are not lost at any moment, at all times we know what we have to do and how the games are going to take place. We knew that the game was going to be this way and that is why we did not despair.”
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