Football
9y

Lionel Messi says Argentina must focus on 2018 qualifying

Lionel Messi, who scored a late goal in Tuesday's friendly against Mexico to salvage a 2-2 draw for Argentina, said he has put harsh media criticism behind him, is focused on 2018 World Cup qualifying for the Albiceleste and is not thinking about breaking Argentina's all-time goalscoring record.

Messi timed a burst in the penalty area in the 89th minute against El Tri, let the ball bounce off his chest into the air and then, while falling, poked a seven-yard shot past Mexico goalkeeper Moises Munoz at the near post to salvage a draw in the international friendly played at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

The Barcelona star reiterated after the match that he never had any plans to abandon the national team, despite harsh criticism from Argentine media after a penalty shootout loss in the Copa America final against Chile. 

"Beyond all the deceptions that we have had for not winning anything in all this time that I have been with the national team, As long as the coach wants me I will always be here," he told TyC Sports. "Now we have new goals and new opportunities. We have to keep fighting."

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner has won every available trophy for Barcelona but has yet to win a trophy with the senior Argentina side, which sparked the criticism following Argentina's defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup and then again against Chile at Copa America.

"We received a lot of criticism and much of it was done in a bad way," said the 28-year-old. "We had two finals in one year, which is not easy, this has a lot of merit although it is regrettable that we couldn't win them."

Coming off two straight final game appearances, Argentina are still in search of their first major title since 1993. During this FIFA break they beat Bolivia 7-0 before the 2-2 draw against Mexico on Tuesday night.

The team are preparing for World Cup qualifying, which begins against Ecuador on Oct. 8 in Buenos Aires.

"Qualifiers keep getting tougher," Messi said. "We have to get off to a good start because we know how complicated it can get. We have to keep fighting as we have done up to this point. We reached two finals, and that is not easy as I have said, and we will try to keep fighting for everything."

Messi is five goals shy of tying Gabriel Batitusta's all-time goal-scoring record with Argentina (54) after netting his 49th goal on Tuesday, but said he was not thinking about it.

"That is the least of my thoughts," he added. "Of course it is nice because of what it means, but it is not my focus. There are much more important things, such as the qualifier, which each time becomes harder."

The Argentina striker also said the 10-day FIFA break in the United States was productive. 

"These were 10 very positive days. Last night I think we did a lot of good things and we also committed errors that show that we have to work because of the importance of what is coming and because of how hard it will be," he said.

"Later in the match we got the ball and we were the protagonists, creating many situations at our goal. The mistakes we made on the other end, our positioning was off. That is why they were able to create situations."

Argentina coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino said he was pleased with the way his team controlled the match.

Messi, meanwhile, said he was happy to see his teammate Sergio "Kun" Aguero hit the 30-goal milestone for Argentina on Tuesday and surpass Diego Maradona's record, adding: "I hope that Kun scores a lot of goals for the national team and on all the teams he plays for."

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