Messi scored the second Albiceleste goal with a formidable free kick to the left corner, after several similar attempts, including two shots off the crossbar, until he hit what was his 800th goal and number 99 in the light blue and white shirt.
As soon as the match ended, an award ceremony similar to the one in Qatar was held, and before lifting the coveted World Cup, Messi addressed the 83,000 spectators who filled the Monumental stadium.
“Thank you for the love that we have been receiving since before winning this. As we have been saying, we were going to do everything possible to win this (the World Cup). Personally, I always dreamed of this moment, to celebrate with you, to come to Argentina and lift a Copa América, the Final, and the greatest thing, which is the World Cup”, Messi said.
The captain spoke to an ecstatic crowd, adding that “today is our day, and we all celebrate, but I don’t want to forget the teammates who did everything possible to get this Cup and unfortunately it was not given to us. They also deserve respect and recognition”, referring to the world runner-up in Brazil-2014.
A grateful Messi
“Let’s keep doing what we’ve been doing, let’s enjoy ourselves. We spent a lot of time to win this cup. Hopefully it won’t take so many years to win it again. It’s very difficult to win a World Cup, sometimes you can’t achieve it because of details. Let’s enjoy this third star “, ended the Argentine star in the middle of a moving ovation.
Later, in statements to the press, Messi said that “we knew it was going to be like this, it is a unique moment that will remain for life, for the people who could not go to Qatar, and to be able to enjoy this. The love of people make me very happy. Now being world champion the love I receive is much more, it’s difficult to explain what I feel”.
“There’s always the journey up to here, what we did. Personally, I suffered a lot. It wasn’t easy. I remember coming to Argentina and having a hard time because things didn’t work out. Thinking a lot about the lost Copa América finals, the World Cup 2014, which was not given to us due to details, but one leaves what had to happen because the reward was great,” he acknowledged with emotion.
The Argentine captain, who is one step away from one hundred goals with the light blue and white, also expressed that “this is what happened to me, to this group, and the previous ones. But God is the one who commands and the one who choose the moments, and it had to happen this way. Now you have to enjoy yourself and look forward.”
With the World Cup trophy in his hands, Messi said that “it’s special to have it, it’s a very nice cup to touch it. This is going very fast and you don’t have time to think about what it means to be world champions, what we did. Everything is so fast that we always think about what is coming and not about what we have won”.