Messi’s World Cup Dream is tearing apart — Here are the reasons
Undoubtedly, Messi’s Argentine side was a favorite to win the 2022 Qatar World Cup, but it seems like there are some concerns. Even though Messi was in his best form before the World Cup, will it be enough to bring the big trophy home?
Argentina came extremely close to winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but ultimately Mario Götze scored an extra-time winner to crown Germany as champions. After this heartbreak, Messi has one last chance to bring that golden trophy home.
For some reason, it won’t be a cakewalk for Messi.
Here are the concerns affecting both Messi and the Argentine side.
The unexpected retirement of Sergio Agüero
The first heartbreak for the Argentine football team happened 11 months before the 2022 FIFA World Cup. That was Sergio Agüero’s retirement.
He was one of the finest players Argentina has ever produced. But unfortunately, he had to retire due to bad health conditions. Agüero was playing for Barcelona when he was diagnosed with a heart condition.
He was the all-time top scorer of Manchester City and one of the key players of Argentina apart from Lionel Messi.
So, it is needless to say that Sergio Agüero’s retirement left a void in the Argentina squad.
Injuries to both Dybala and Di Maria
This is the biggest concern of the Argentine camp at the moment. Everyone knows that Angel Di Maria is a real-life angel when it comes to big games. He is the one who scored the winning goal even in the 2021 Copa America final.
Unfortunately, he sustained a hamstring injury in a recent Champions League game. Reports say it’s a low-grade injury, but surely he is missing these crucial days before the world cup.
Will he be able to reach his full potential after his recovery? The question arises.
Even if Messi can be relieved after hearing that Maria’s injury is not serious, he is probably concerned about Dybala’s injury.
The young rising star Paulo Dybala is suffering from a severe thigh injury when there are only a few days until the World Cup.
Dybala was playing for AS Roma under Jose Mourinho this season, and he was regaining his best form, which had disappeared in his final days at Juventus. It seemed likely that Dybala would play a key role for Argentina in this World Cup.
However, reports said it might take 4–8 weeks to recover from this thigh injury, and Jose Mourinho even stated that it will be difficult for Dybala to play for Roma again until next year.
It looked like he might be ruled out of the 2022 World Cup, but according to some sources, his recovery is progressing quicker than anticipated. If this is true, he will be available for the World Cup at least from the knockout stages.
Will Messi be able to fulfill his World Cup dream?
Messi is indeed in his best form for the World Cup and is able to reach his full potential. On the other hand, the Argentina National Team is continuing an unbeaten streak of 35 games and focusing on breaking Italy’s world record for the longest unbeaten streak.
Even though this 35-year-old Argentine superstar is arguably the greatest of all time, he can’t win a World Cup without a good team. Injuries to his teammates are causing him more trouble than anything else.
So, we’ll see how Lionel Messi fulfills his World Cup dream and the dream of every other Messi fan across the world.
