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Lionel Messi is still alive and well.
After our 2-0 victory over Mexico, you all saw the relief on the faces of the players, who had been through a lot.
After we lost to Saudi Arabia, there was a lot of pressure on us and that relief was for everyone, but particularly for Messi.
Argentina's elimination in the group stage of the World Cup would have been terrible.
We are not in the final 16. To make it, we need to win against Poland.
It won't be easy, and the team still needs to improve, but hopefully we have some faith after beating Mexico.
We always have Messi. We have depended on him many times before, and we know we can rely on him again.
We know that it will be difficult for us to go far. We can dream about the Argentina team again thanks to him.
I was at the beginning of Messi's journey with Argentina and I hope he can finish it by winning the World Cup.
I knew he was going to be special when I saw him touch the ball for the first time.
We had heard about Messi before we met him, but he hadn't played for Argentina before. We gave him a warm welcome and quickly realized how good he was.
The Under-20 World Cup was held in the Netherlands in 2005. It was mostly down to him that we won the tournament.
I feel fortunate to have been a part of his generation, to have enjoyed watching and playing with him, and to have shared many moments with him.
I am aware of the hard times he has gone through. He was only 13 years old when he moved to Spain.
I left Argentina at a young age to progress my career, and I know how difficult it was for me to adapt. I joined Seville when I was 20 years old.
I'm proud of everything he's done since then, but I also know how much it means for him to represent Argentina, and how badly he wants to lift the greatest trophy in football with us.
It has not always been this way, but there is a lot of love for Messi.
We lost the World Cup final in 2014) and the Copa America final in 2015.
That is not sufficient in Argentina. Just reaching a final is not acceptable for a lot of people. The criticism of Messi was because we hadn't won everything like he was doing with Barcelona.
After giving up on the national team, he took a break and realized how much it meant to him.
Even though Messi has won everything there is to win in club football, he wanted to help us win something. It was amazing to see him win his first major trophy at international level.
Everyone ran to hug Messi after we beat Brazil in the Maracana, which was something very special.
It took the pressure off of him, but people still expect a lot from him at the World Cup, even though he played for his club in a different way.
He has to win every time. No other is acceptable.
It's important that he has the right people around him to help him relax because it can be difficult for him mentally at these tournaments.
Even from a distance, I could see that Messi looked stressed, which was a real concern. We were knocked out early on because the squad was not doing well.
When he was in the Argentina squad that reached the final in Brazil, it was completely different to what it is today. He was leading and enjoying it.
I heard that there were similarities between the feelings he had then and the atmosphere in the squad now. It's a good sign that he is happy and there is the same togetherness.
There was a lot of fun in the dressing room when I was a kid. There is one major difference between the two.
The pictures of him giving an inspiring speech to the team before the Copa America final were something people had never seen before, and he now has leadership qualities to take this team into something bigger.
Everyone listens when Messi says something. He was a bit quiet and didn't say much in the previous year.
He was our captain but Mascherano took that role because of his experience. The one who was very vocal in the dressing room was him.
It's Messi who does that. He is not just our best player, he is the real leader of the team, and he will be helping them through this difficult start in that way too.
It's nice to see. He has been travelling for a long time. Everyone can change off the field. At 35, Messi is more mature and has more experience, but he is still an amazing footballer.
He should retire immediately if he wins the World Cup. He won't be able to win.
The man was talking to a man in the Middle East.
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