Lionel Messi: Destiny (2023) - full transcript

In football, in this thing
that we've invested

so much time in following,
he's the best we've seen.

And to know that that might
be ending,

this might be the last time
you see him,

I think that's almost unimaginable.

He's the best player in history.

One thing missing was the World Cup.

This was it, really, for him.

He knew that it was probably
the last big shot at the World Cup.

A dream that has been elusive
over so many years.

It's Germany!



Not a night for the
world's best individual to shine.

Argentina are out.

That's the World Cup for Messi.

It's destiny.

Mbappe...

Mbappe!

Watch out, world,
there's a new number ten.

It is France who've won through
to the World Cup quarterfinals.

In terms of delivering a World Cup,

the Football Association
had a single objective -

find a manager
that could work with Messi.

Argentina has a wonderfully
kind of varied relationship

between national team and manager,

but usually the manager
has quite a protagonic role



as some sort of personality
or character,

whether it's Menotti chain smoking
and being intellectual,

or Bilardo being
ridiculously strict,

Passarella being authoritarian

or Basile being incredibly
kind of libertarian.

But Scaloni, it's almost like we

didn't really know that much about
him when he arrived.

Most people were furious
and against his appointment

because it felt like that job
should go to a character

and it just went to, you know,
a guy who was sort of anonymous.

He brought togetherness
in the group.

That's the hardest part to manage
Argentina, because you always

are going to have talented players,
it's how to manage them.

It's like having a Ferrari, and
if you don't know how to drive it,

then you're going to crash
in every corner.

That's the only explanation
that I can give to Scaloni.

He knows exactly how to drive
a Ferrari.

And it all starts
with a conversation

that Scaloni had with Messi.

"What do you want to do?
What kind of players should we have?

"What would work for you?

"I think it could be this,
but what do you think?"

And it was an equal conversation,
and you have to do that

when you've got the best player
in the world. You have to do that.

But he had a clear idea that they
had connected, Scaloni and Leo,

in a way that I don't think managers
in the past have done that.

DRUMMING/FANS CHANT

The news that has
the whole football world talking.

It was a very complex day.

Three days, four days earlier,
he was crying.

He didn't want to leave Barcelona.

You could sense that he was
a little bit out of place.

The psychological effects
of a change like that are huge.

When you have to leave one place
that you've been for so long,

it's not just about a football team,

it's also about your friends
and your family, your kids.

Surely it was tough. But of course,
then the pressure was there,

and you can see on the pitch,
his first season

probably was not how Messi
expected it to be.

But little by little,
at the end of that first season,

everything was clicking.

He was flying in Europe,
he was flying in Ligue 1,

and with Argentina
it was working so well,

because everybody understood, we
want Leo to be the World Cup winner.

So he went to Qatar well-ready.

Heading into Qatar,
it's the first time for a long time

Argentina had gone
into a World Cup

as either favourites
or second favourites.

And they're on this
36-game unbeaten run.

They'd won the Copa America the
previous year, and that was hugely

significant because they hadn't won
a senior tournament since 1993.

The curse was lifted.

The team, before the World Cup,
had been on an incredible run,

and I think we all had that feeling
that, "Oh, we're going to go

"into the World Cup and we're
going to smash every single team."

I think even for Messi,
this World Cup was special

and he wanted to win...

..this World Cup at all cost.

Like, "No, no, I want to leave
everything on the pitch.

"I want to carry this team
to the final again.

"I cannot miss that chance."

In his own words,
Lionel Messi begins the journey

to win the World Cup at the fifth
and final time of asking.

It was like the last chance,
the last dance about the World Cup,

so I think that Messi...

..was feeling, like, confident.

He was... He knows what he wants.

Argentina were, like,
expecting good results

with a lot of hope in this team.

They thought that this
could be the chance.

Argentina are in control.

In the lead courtesy of
a Lionel Messi penalty.

Saudi Arabia looked like

an ideal team to kick off
the campaign in style.

But we got nervous.
The players started to panic.

Al-Malki's ball through.

Al-Shehri...

..has equalised for Saudi Arabia!

They, erm...
They did the impossible.

Al-Dawsari.

And they're all at sea,
suddenly, here, Argentina.

And they're now behind!

You know, in a boxing match,
they knock you out.

And we couldn't react.
We lost the fight. Erm...

It was an extraordinary match,
really.

Saudi Arabia had some incredible
energy and were absolutely kicking

lumps out of the Argentinian players
right throughout, including Messi.

And, you know, what did they have?
About three shots, I think,

in the whole game,
but managed an incredible victory.

It's one of
the World Cup all-time shocks.

After the game, we were all in
shock. The players were in shock.

Argentina got to Qatar
without conceding many goals

and suddenly we conceded two
against, you know, the Saudis.

Totally shellshocked.

This is one of
the greatest World Cup shocks

in history.

For those fans in the white and blue
of Argentina, total disbelief.

It put a huge dampener, I would
expect, in Argentinian hopes,

having gone into the tournament
so confident and then to lose

against one of the weakest nations
in the tournament.

It meant to be easy. It meant to be
just carry on what we were doing.

It was the hardest night
of my life after that.

I couldn't sleep.

I was afraid of getting knocked out
in my first World Cup.

I was afraid of why it's happening.

I think we all needed, like,
feet on the ground, lads.

You know, like, this is the
World Cup, anything can happen.

Then I saw Leo coming out
and speaking to

every single broadcaster.

He stopped everywhere.

Repeating the same sentence. "Stick
with us." "We're better than this."

"We're not going to let you down.
Stick with us."

"We're better than this."
"We're not going to let you down."

"We're better than this."
"We're not going to let you down."

I said, "Wow!" When things
didn't go our way in the past,

Leo will look sad and look down,
but this time was a different Leo.

You know?

He was the first one to believe.

One of the main strength
of that team

is how they came through
those moments.

After that, Scaloni gave
a press conference saying,

"Look, it's only a game.

"My brother has been calling,
weeping. Everyone's weeping.

"Really, we all need to kind of
turn it down a notch."

The population was on tenterhooks

for any titbit of mood and
emotional wellbeing of the squad,

because after Saudi Arabia
there was such a...

such a depleted sense of,
"Oh, we were all so hyped-up

"and now this is going to be
over by Saturday."

I think in an odd way, the defeat to
Saudi Arabia actually did them good.

And I think maybe if you do go
unbeaten for that long, you do...

Complacency is maybe the wrong word

but you lose a bit of the hardness
that you need.

Obviously, if you've gone
36 games unbeaten,

you don't want to change too much.

What it allowed Scaloni to do, after
that game he had to change stuff,

and he could bring in Mac Allister
and Alvarez and Fernandez -

three players in their early 20s
who hadn't been there

at the beginning of the run,
and the three of them were

all absolutely critical in terms of
getting them on the right tracks.

Scaloni was very proactive
to change two or three players

to go into this must-win game.

One mistake and you go home.

Every minute could have been
the last minute.

This reflected in an incredible
sense that it was all or nothing.

We lose, we out.

They were bad in the first half
against Mexico. You could see

all the doubts that had been
there in that last half hour

against the Saudis. All the same
problems. Everybody very anxious.

I was sat next to Simeone and I
will never forget, at half-time,

we looked at each other, thinking...
"It's going to be tough."

You could really see
that the tension was there.

You could hold it and break it.

It was there. It was obvious.
It was touchable.

It was such a poor performance that
you thought, it's too young a team.

Maybe they just don't know
how to deal with this pressure.

But at half-time, Messi again
gave everybody confidence

because he said, "We can do this.

"We're not playing well here,
but it's about winning.

"We can do this.
I mean, we're better than them."

I'm sure that we're going to win,
but...

..you need to wait for someone
to get on the ball

and produce a moment of magic.

The World Cup turns on Messi getting
half a yard of space, if that.

He has to do it.
There's nobody else to do it.

Messi from range!

Argentina's saviour.

Pfft!

It was a moment of relief.

We just jumped like...

Celebrating like I was, I was
playing again.

Suddenly, the weight is lifted.

The threat of going out
in the group stage is lifted.

And I think this time
the supporting cast,

particularly the three younger
players, Mac Allister,

Alvarez and Fernandez, were able
to step up and support him.

Scaloni, he understood that this
could be Messi's last World Cup.

So I need a group of players
surrounding Messi...

Every one of them has to work
100...not 100%, 120% for Messi.

Because when he's on the ball, he
has to make the difference.

I think he was really clever
on that.

They were running
almost twice as much for Messi.

There were so many similarities
to this Argentinian team

to the one that I played against
in '86 with Maradona.

Not many superstars, but much better
than people give them credit for.

You've got Mac Allister who came
out of nowhere, you've got Alvarez.

They were tough at the back
and had Martinez in goal.

So I think the young players
had to step up,

and their work ethic was exemplary.

It shouldn't take that long
to realise that when you've got

a genius, you've got
to treat him differently.

But in football there is big egos,

and the guys that you take
into the national side

are the geniuses of their teams.

So, try to tell them now
to actually, can you put that down,

because there's only one
that is a genius here.

In the past, that didn't work,
because there were big players

that wanted to make that impact,
and did not want to hand over

total authority to one person.

But you're talking about players
in this group that admire Messi,

that felt the responsibility
of getting Messi, and them,

but first Messi,
his first World Cup.

And Scaloni saw that.

I have Julian Alvarez,
I've got Mac Allister,

I've got Enzo Fernandez,

that when I gave them a chance,
they were incredible.

The eyes of the world are firmly
fixed on Lionel Messi.

He carries his country's
hopes of progression again.

Szczesny denies Lionel Messi.

Against Poland, where Messi
misses the penalty, it's fine.

He was in such a perfect mental
state that once Mexico was won,

it's like, "We're going to be fine."

And he felt in that game
that it was when the youngsters

kind of stood up and said,
"We can be counted."

Who would have thought a Brighton
player would be a key player

in the World Cup?

Nobody in England,
nobody in Argentina,

probably not Mac Allister himself.

Before the World Cup,
Alexis was not in the starting 11.

But the important thing in Alexis,
I think, that he could help

in a lot of roles.

He was a very good player
in the perfect moment.

He's a complete midfielder.

He was doing everything
for that team.

The link-up with Messi,
Enzo and Alexis was incredible,

with Di Maria...

Like they've been playing together
for, I don't know, five, six years.

Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton has
his first ever international goal!

And what a time to score it!

The team was not Messi-dependent.

We had other options.

If the opposition just put
two players on Messi,

or three players on Messi,

then that would create more space
for other players.

The respect that Messi generate -
his team-mates

create these moments of magic.

Fernandez.

Oh, what a hit!

Alvarez!

Argentina and
Lionel Messi's

dream of emulating
Diego Maradona of 36 years ago

is still alive.

After that win against Mexico,
then Poland,

I think the team were growing,
you know, like, in confidence.

It seems like now
I see the Argentina thing

that I saw before the World Cup.

I don't know if I can explain
what happened with this team.

I think that sometimes magical
things happen, you know,

about people that are there.

And I think that Scaloni
was one of the most important keys

of this team. He understand
that it was very important,

the human part, the family spirit
that he create.

I think for all Argentinian people,
if you have mate, truco,

and beautiful barbecue,
you're so happy you don't need more.

You don't need more in life.

And I think these three things
is something that, for us,

is like a religion.

We used to love the barbecues.

There was much press coverage
on the amazing amounts

of Argentinian meat
that were flown over.

2,000 kilograms of meat.

We'd six, seven barbecues.

In 1986, Diego Maradona's dad making
the asados is a kind of crucial,

emblematic part of the family mood
of the squad.

When Messi did join the Argentina
squad that Scaloni had built,

the younger players, who were
a little bit in awe of Messi,

said, "Would it be all right
to just knock on his bedroom door

"and say, 'Do you want to drink
some mate and play truco?'"

And that's how the ice was broken.

And there are moments
that are for the players,

only for the players.
There is where the magic begin.

We always said we're not the most
talented national team.

We were watching different nations.

They had better players
and a better squad than us.

But the togetherness that we had,
no-one had it.

So Argentina expects,
Australia dreams...

We're now at the business end
of the tournament.

And it's a different competition.

The stakes are much higher.
The jeopardy is much greater.

The pressure builds.

But that's when the great
players come to the fore.

That's when you find out
who's world-class,

who's going to stand up.

Australia was one of those games,

like a bit similar
like with Saudi Arabia.

We know that we are better
than them,

we have better players,
but be careful,

because they don't
have nothing to lose.

Mac Allister.

Messi!

It had to be!

Just when his country
needed him.

And the two-time winners
are into the quarterfinals.

In a country
with 140% inflation a year,

we bring 70,000 people to Qatar.

I don't know how, but everybody
gets to the World Cups.

People mortgage houses,
sell assets, get loans.

All sorts of things to be there.

Generally speaking, in Argentina,
there is a climate of hardship,

hyperinflation,
there is economic instability.

Just before the World Cup
kicked off, my brother and his mates

did this kind of ad hoc poll,
asking random people in the street

what would they prefer, economic
stability or winning the World Cup?

And people were saying,
"Well, economic stability,

"how long does that last?
But the World Cup is forever."

I see this with this team.

We were all together
with the same energy.

And we want something, all together.

We don't expect football to change
anything about the reality.

But we all want just this little
bit of joy, for a bit.

For the Global South,

this was the first World Cup
ever to take place in summer.

So the mood of the squad in Qatar
and the people in Argentina

was completely in sync throughout
the whole tournament.

And that's a really
odd thing to have happened,

but it genuinely did happen.

The sense of belonging
with our shirt is very important.

And that relationship was repaired,
from all those years of sadness,

losing Copa America finals,
Messi's tears.

Done and dusted. Put in the past.

And Messi and the team,
and Scaloni and the fans,

felt that, I think, we were kind
of ready at the right time.

The country, the fans, the players,
went on this emotional journey.

And against the Netherlands,
which was a quarterfinals,

it was a huge release of pent-up
anxiety, hope, dreams.

They've got this history
with the Netherlands,

going back to the '74 World Cup,
where the Dutch beat them

and really humiliated them in '74.
But in '78, that final, there's

a period when the Dutch are left
on the pitch alone.

So they've got the whole
stadium going at them

just to intimidate them.
And that sort of lingered

all the way through.
The brilliant quarterfinal in '98,

when there was the two red cards.
And then in 2014 when van Gaal,

as coach, had had de Jong man-mark
Messi,

and he marked him out of the
game.

So, yeah, there was a lot of
reasons for Argentina

to particularly
want to win that game.

The Dutch said things,
they provoked.

Van Gaal said that they were
confident to go into penalties,

underestimating Emiliano.

And the worst thing you can say
to Leo is when Argentina defends,

they defend with ten players.

Argentina is a country that loves
to find a slight that it can get

itself worked up about.

To feel the bronca,
as they would call it,

the inner fury. And they used that.

It fired me up. It certainly did.
Even to Messi as well.

And Leo answered on the pitch.

Messi.

A lovely drop of the shoulders,
given half a yard of space.

Back it goes to Molina!

I think you saw in the quarterfinal
the difference

between the Messi of 2022
and 2014.

In 2014, you could mark him
out of the game,

because he played
a much more orthodox role.

By 2022,
he was barely involved.

He was this sort of sprite,
existing on the periphery.

You can mark a man.
You can't mark a ghost.

It's two!

It's his tournament!

Is it written in the stars?

He celebrates a goal
with this gesture,

which is a very symbolic
goal celebration.

He played the ears to van Gaal,
you know?

"I can't hear you. What were
you saying? Say it again."

In Argentina, we recognise it
as being first manifested

by Riquelme.

There is an edge to Messi.

Leo speaks to Riquelme a lot,

and Riquelme still felt badly
treated by Louis van Gaal

in his time at Barcelona.
That was not forgotten.

All that is playing in the mind
of Lionel Messi.

It just kind of grew the whole net
of footballing references

that were being suddenly
evoked on that one game.

It looked like it was going
to be a mundane kind of 2-0 victory.

And then in the last
few minutes, it just turned.

That's a good ball in, and a very,
very good header,

and the Dutch are back in it.

They panicked a little bit,
Argentina.

Do or die now
for the Netherlands.

It all comes down to this.

The last free kick,

I was next to Ferdinand.

I was so nervous because
last free kick, you know,

let's not concede it.

And I will never forget Ferdinand
filming that free kick!

Oh, my God!

Whoooo!

I couldn't believe it.

Sorry, man. I'm sorry.

I didn't know what to do.
I just went to the toilet!

And then it got really intense,
didn't it?

There was so much aggression
out there.

Paredes just kicking the ball
to the bench of Holland.

I think we like a bit of that.
As long as it doesn't go too far,

which I don't think it did.

It goes to penalties.

And obviously, you know,
the Argentinian goalkeeper

is quite a character and one you
absolutely want on your side

when you're in a penalty
shoot-out, that's for sure!

We had Emiliano, which is our ace.

Emi!

It's very difficult to explain
what the people feel with him.

You know? Goalkeepers,
they have their own personality.

They're different to the rest.

He learned straight in Stoke
on a Wednesday night,

like they say in England,
because it's true.

Emiliano was sent on loan
everywhere and he became an icon.

He can take the pressure,
and enjoy it.

Oh, it's saved again!

It's an amazing
piece of goalkeeping!

Oh, still having goose bumps.

For me, that was a brilliant moment.
And, yeah, it was his moment.

It was all about him.

The stadium erupts. And Argentina
are in the semifinals!

No, I was dead on the floor there!

Someone hugged me
and they said,

"Oh, I can't believe you've just
done it again. You saved us again."

And then when I looked up,
it was Leo.

Now it's just, that picture
I always will have in my heart.

For people that will know Messi
from a long time, we all know

that he's the leader.

Of course, then,
because he's a bit quiet,

people think,
"No, he's not a proper leader."

But no, they're wrong.

And I think Messi,
in that World Cup especially,

he was more than that.

What we haven't seen before from
Messi is those kind

of maybe reactions on the pitch.

He was always a bit angry.

Messi was showing signs
of being quite confrontational.

There's a lot of this,
people talking.

He goes and talks to van Gaal
and Davids saying,

"You've been talking too much.
You've been talking too much."

It's like, I'm looking at him and
I know all the people close to him,

it's like, "Wow, Leo." You know?

And you can't stay on the level
that long that Leo has,

without being incredibly
competitive.

He's a winner. He's a winner.

And then in the tunnel on the way
to the changing rooms

where he's doing
his Argentinian TV post-match,

the number 19, as he calls him,

walks by and Messi interrupts
the live bit to say,

"Anda pa' alla, bobo."

Que miras, bobo. Que miras, bobo.

"You go away, you fool." You know.

"Go away, Bobo!"

Anda pa' alla, Bobo. Anda pa' alla.
Tranquilo. Leo.

Rosario boy-style!

Within hours, there were T-shirts,
mugs, fridge magnets.

Suddenly, everyone among the press
there, were texting and writing,

"Has Messi been taken over
by the spirit of Maradona?"

"At last, finally,
Maradona speaks through Messi."

And my epiphany was to think,
"No! Maradona would have invented

"an especially obscene and offensive
insult specifically

"for the number 19."

It's very mild, "bobo".

It's the kind of thing someone's
grandmother might say.

But for Argentina that was a sign.
That thing that was missing,

why they couldn't fully
fall in love with Messi,

by seeing that, it was like,
"Yeah, he's one of ours."

We are more aggressive
probably than the team

that he had before
in the national team.

So he probably becoming a little bit
like us, you know, that bad boy.

By the time the Qatar World Cup
kicked off,

Messi was incredibly comfortable
being Messi.

For many years, there was enormous
pressure on him to perform

or be or behave to the expectations
of some nebulous demand,

to be more Argentinian,

to be more passionate,
to be more like Maradona.

But he broke free.

Whether it's Maradona dying or him
being able to leave Barcelona

and see that the world
didn't stop,

something shifted
that liberated him.

You can be the best player
in the world, but unless you link

somehow to your kid,
to the dreams that he had,

it just doesn't fully work.

And what Messi has managed to do
is to reconnect with that guy

that had a dream
that was a long time ago.

He said it, "I want to win
the World Cup."

That's the Messi that we saw
in Qatar, too.

KIDS SHOUT "MESSI!"

He must have
realised that the clock's ticking.

He must have known that, actually,
"If I'm going to do this, I've got
to do it."

And that was the thing about
watching Messi at this World Cup.

Every game I saw him, I'm thinking,
"Is this last time I see him?"

In football, in this thing
that we've invested so much time,

so much emotional energy, so much
intellectual energy in following,

he's the best we've seen

at this thing you've cared
about for so long.

And to know that that might
be ending,

this might be the last
time you see him,

that, for me, for fans,
for journalists,

that was a huge thing.

So what it must be for him, I think,
that's almost unimaginable.

Leo, for a while now, has understood
that he's a player of moments,

but the best moments
in the World Cup

were the ones
in which he was involved.

Messi.

Gvardiol's got back at him.
Will he be able to stay with him?

No! Messi gets through!

And Argentina have three!

Alvarez has got his second.

Made by the master!

He's knows he's not going
to beat him on pace, but how can he?

Well, by just creating mini battles
on the way to the last pass.

Genius.

And it will be Argentina to return
here on Sunday in a bid

to be crowned world champions.

Amazing. It was like magic.

The World Cup, football,
he said, so big passion

since I was a child.

And to have the opportunity
to be next to him

in that special moment before
the final of a World Cup,

I just want to say to him
that it was enough.

It's going to be an amazing
story without winning, too.

He already did something
for our country so powerful.

So powerful. He's like an example
for all the child in Argentina.

It's wonderful to see that career
panned out over two decades.

So wonderful to the point I think
most of the world wanted Messi

to win the World Cup.
It wasn't Argentina favourites,

it was just Messi.
We want Messi to win it.

We all knew that's the World Cup
for Messi.

It's destiny.

It's only one more step
to make the dream reality.

Messi had found the perfect
mental state to win a World Cup.

Many players said it
before the World Cup,

we want to win it because of him.

I went into the game
super confident.

You know, we were dancing
and singing on the bus

on the way to the stadium.

I think with international football,
games can become much more

about one individual
against another individual.

And so obviously
this was Messi v Mbappe.

The sorcerer and the apprentice!

And...that's exactly what we got.

And the beauty of it all
is that there are many stories

that could be told, but we don't
know which one will be written.

And what a game that was.

You know, it's the greatest
World Cup final there's ever been.

The best game I've ever seen.

Greatest international game
I think I've witnessed.

In a football game, you talk about
drama, action, emotion.

It was everything that you could
expect for a football game.

Argentina were, by a massive margin,
the better side in the first half.

Down goes Di Maria.

Penalty, Argentina.

Messi scores!

Argentina were all over them,
all over the pitch.

Totally one-sided.

Messi. Turns it out to Alvarez,
who gets it through.

And that's Mac Allister
looking at Di Maria!

And you thought that was it.

And then...

Ten minutes to go.
Breakaway, penalty.

It all changed.

After Messi has given the ball away.

Messi's been robbed by Coman.

Mbappe, gets the return!

Incroyable!

You're thinking then, Messi's
blown his own World Cup Final.

2-2. But again...

..you could see the players' faces.

And then the extra time, I think,
was the best extra time

I've ever seen.

It was just...it was just madness.

Here's Messi.

Messi wants it again!
Lloris in the way!

Well, the referee has pointed
to the middle and said, "Goal"!

And then you thought,
"That MUST be it now."

There is another change around here,
a France penalty.

More drama to come
and another penalty.

Mbappe...

..is the man!

A hattrick!

In the biggest game of all!

And then even after that,
it could have been won.

It was like one end...

Kolo Muani is in!
Martinez with the save.

Oh, my God, he was free.
That's a good one.

And they went straight down
the other end.

Here they go again!
Martinez waits in the middle.

That had to be.

It was one of the most exciting,
thrilling, tremendous games

I've ever seen.

And there's more to come,
because the 22nd World Cup Final

has gone to penalties.

In many ways, the most impressive
thing about Argentina

at the World Cup
was they had the mental resilience

to keep coming back.
So they did it in the quarterfinal,

and the same thing
in the final, twice.

You know, it was the famous
Alf Ramsey line

after 90 minutes,
with the '66 final.

"You've won it once,
now go out there and win it again."

Well this was, "You've won it twice,
now go out there and win it again."

When it came down to penalties,
we had Emiliano Martinez,

who...

He's got that skill...

..um, in a penalty shoot-out.

You know, it's like
arm wrestling.

Emiliano will put the team ahead.

So the pressure was on them
all the time.

The first one,
I didn't do anything.

Like, nothing. Just good luck,
and that's it.

Mbappe will go first for France.

And Mbappe will score for France!

Three times on the spot.

"Whatever you can do,
I will endeavour to do as well,"

is Lionel Messi's message.

And he rolls it in!

Well, that's stylish!

That's incredible!

At this time, this occasion.

The next one is the one, you know.

Saved by Martinez!

The first cheers
are Argentina's.

I think that he enjoyed penalties.

Such a strange personality
that he says, like,

"Here I am, now is my moment,
penalties are my time."

The third one is a pressure pen.

That's the one that I need to,
I need to do something, you know?

Martinez has just thrown
the ball away.

He's done that before.

This is all part
of his penalty routine.

Make them work. Unbelievable.

Wide!

People were saying,
"Oh, do you practise that dance?"

No. I never danced the way I danced
after the second penalty missed.

Never in my life.

You know, that's me.
Sometimes I'm a child on the pitch.

I don't see what's going
to happen next, you know?

He became like a specialist
penalty saver.

Like he did against Holland,

he saved the first ones
against the French,

and that put the pressure
on the French.

They miss, we score.
They miss, we score.

And it came down to Gonzalo Montiel,
you know, to deliver that last kick.

This for the World Cup.

It's Argentina!

I cried a little bit.
It was mad.

I've never thought about living
a moment like this.

I was only one-year-old
when Argentina won in '86.

At the age of 38, I can say that
I saw Argentina win the World Cup.

In the streets, in the homes,
in the hearts,

it was absolutely fantastic.

We were waiting for this moment
that Messi has that trophy

in his hands.

Finished! Finished!

We were talking to each other,

drinking mate,
drinking champagne,

singing all the way to Argentina.

It was just happiness, you know?

And everyone enjoyed it.

Five million people filled
the streets of Buenos Aires.

The Argentinian society
became divided, you know?

And I think this World Cup kind
of brought everybody together.

Because of the happiness.

Everybody was happy. Everybody.

When the things that happen
in your life, in your country,

with what?
In my country, with the World Cup.

Everyone is happy.
It's like that. I swear.

You're sitting in front
and you see like ants, you know.

White-and-blue ants!

And you can see people
on top of the trees.

Just lovely. Lovely.

We are crazy about football.

So imagine a celebration
like that in Buenos Aires.

It's been real chaos!

Argentina's never had a moment
like that.

The third star is there.
These lads are part of history.

This bunch, led by Messi,

they are so different,
and influential,

of the way Argentina
plays international football.

That group of players, that group
of people, they are all special.

It's not just about winning
the World Cup,

it's what we done
in the process.

You know, beating the champions
in the Copa America after 28 years,

beating the champions of Europe
at Wembley in a good style

of football, and beating
the World Cup champions in Qatar

after losing the first game.

It will be down to one
of the best World Cups ever.

It's mad to think
that I'm a World Cup champion,

that I won the World Cup
alongside Messi.

The light shone on him
just performing.

Whatever had happened in that final
or even in the tournament,

for me, Messi's now indisputable.

Messi's legacy would be to be
as big as Maradona in the pantheon

of the football gods.

He has to be up there as
the number one, and then the rest.

He's won absolutely everything
now in the game.

Messi has won so much for 15 years.

Nobody in the world ever
has done that.

You get to your fifth World Cup
and finally,

after all the misfortune,
all the pratfalls,

everything that has gone wrong,

finally, you win it.

It's the perfect ending.

There's nobody that
compares with Lionel Messi.