Lionel Messi praised Argentina fans in the team's last official match at home before the World Cup finals next November in Qatar, and praised their tremendous support during the 3-0 victory over Venezuela and that it was pivotal to maintaining happiness.
"I did not expect anything less from the fans," Messi said - after the victory in the Bombonera stadium, the stronghold of Boca Juniors. "The harmony between the people of Argentina and its team is great."
The player - the 7-time Ballon d'Or winner - has suffered in Paris Saint-Germain since his move from Barcelona in August 2021, but he was active against modest Venezuela, and the fans' admiration was clear.
Argentina fans have raised Messi's status since he led his country to winning the Copa America 2021, the first major international title in 28 years.
Argentine fans sing for the legend Messi 💞😌 #Argentina #Messi𓃵 #MessiDay pic.twitter.com/wL4FHsUUik
— Junior Messi Muhammad Sobug 🇧🇩 (@SobugMessi10jr) March 26, 2022
The feeling of happiness was mutual, and Messi led the rest of the players in celebrating, chanting and singing in front of 50,000 fans.
"I've been happy here for a long time, even before the Copa America. The fans showed that they love me and I'm grateful for that and things are going smoothly and that makes it easier on and off the field."
On Friday, Messi returned to the national team after resting in two previous World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia.
The Paris Saint-Germain player made several attempts to score from free kicks, but he scored the third goal with a clumsy shot near the goal.
After the match, the Argentine star spoke about his future, and said, "After the World Cup, I will evaluate a lot of things. Whether things are going well or badly. Let's hope they are in the best possible way."
🎥 – celebrate Messis with the Argentina team after the match pic.twitter.com/4gYVmzmA7h
— MessiTeam (@Lionel10Team) March 26, 2022
When asked to clarify his thoughts on his future, he replied, "I don't know. I'm thinking about what's coming and what's very close, which is the match against Ecuador (next Tuesday). Then the preliminaries in September and October, then the World Cup, and then I do not know".
The player, who scored 81 goals with the national team, stressed that yesterday's victory at the legendary Bombonera was important "to bid farewell to the fans, because we will not play (in Argentina) again before the World Cup."
Messi - who is 35 years old at the end of next June - played 4 World Cup finals, and reached the final of the 2014 edition in Brazil before losing to Germany 1-0, and was eliminated from the final price after losing to France 4-3 in the last version in Russia before 4 years
Argentina qualified for the finals in Qatar earlier, along with Brazil, Ecuador and Uruguay, before entering the final round of qualifiers
next Tuesday, while Peru, Colombia and Chile are battling for the play-off against an Asian team.
Argentina is a guest of Ecuador in the last meeting.