A little bit above the rest, Messi picks his title favourites for World Cup
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Rio de Janeiro: In an interview with the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), Lionel Messi, the captain of Argentina said that he places Brazil, France and England teams above the rest of the participants competing for Qatar World Cup 2022. According to him these teams will be the biggest obstacles before Argentina for ending their 36 year World title drought.
"Whenever we talk about candidates, we always talk about the same teams. If I have to put some above others I think Brazil, France and England are a little bit above the rest. But the World Cup is so difficult and so complicated that anything can happen," Messi said.
Messi will be playing his fifth and almost certainly his last World Cup, having appeared on football's biggest stage for the first time at the 2006 tournament in Germany.
"We are very excited. We have a very good group that is enthusiastic, but we are taking things little by little," said the 35-year-old Paris Saint-Germaine forward.
"We hope to start the World Cup in the best way to face everything that comes after. The more you play and the more time you spend on the pitch, the more you get to know each other."
Two-time champions Argentina will kick off their campaign against Saudi Arabia on November 22 before facing Mexico and Poland in Group C.
They are undefeated in their past 35 games, a sequence that includes the 2021 Copa America final against Brazil. They are just two games shy of the record for the longest run of international matches without defeat, currently held by Italy.
-IANS