Argentina captain, Lionel Messi, has admitted that his side would have been humiliated by critics had they been eliminated by Nigeria in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
After playing out a 1-1 draw against Iceland in their opening Group D game, the Albiceleste then lost 3-0 to Croatia.
With only a point in two games, the Argentines needed to defeat the Super Eagles to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.
Messi’s opener was cancelled out by Victor Moses’ strike from the penalty spot before Marcos Rojo clinched victory with four minutes left in the game.
Argentina were later eliminated in the Round of 16 by France, who went on to win the tournament.
“When we lost and crashed out of the tournament, we knew our time was up because our preparation and focus towards the tournament was not too impressive.
“It would have been very humiliating if Nigeria had eliminated us at the group stage.
“The World Cup in Russia was a complicated period for us. But people knew we were not candidates to win. Today is different, I see a young and excited group ready for success.
“When we qualified against Nigeria in the World Cup everyone who was mocking us was silent, they wanted us to be humiliated. If we were knocked out in the groups they would have killed us all,” Messi told Fox Sports Radio.
Comments