Messi: Losing 1st game helped us reach World Cup final

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Lionel Messi praised Argentina for bouncing back from their loss to Saudi Arabia in the opening game of the World Cup.

Argentina will face either France or Morocco in the final on Sunday after Messi inspired them to a win over Croatia.

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Messi, 35, opened the scoring through a 34th-minute penalty before Croatia's Luka Modric almost certainly plays in his final World Cup match, as the two teams played to a 2-2 draw.

Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in their Group C opener, ranked 51st in the world.

Spain won the World Cup in 2010 despite losing their opening game.

After tying the record with Germany's Lothar Matthaus and scoring his 11th World Cup goal to surpass Gabriel Batistuta's Argentina record, Messi said that the first match was a hard blow for everyone.

We didn't think we would lose to Saudi Arabia. This squad proved how strong we are despite the test.

The other matches were won by us. We knew if we did not win things would be complicated for us, so it was very difficult to do.

We knew that things would be more difficult for us. I hope it will be the same for the final game as it was for the previous five.

We were confident that we would make it because we knew what we could do. The loss in the first match helped us to become stronger.

Let's have fun." The fans here and in Argentina are very happy. We want to give everything we have in the final, but also want to enjoy what we achieved.

I am having a good time. The previous game wasn't easy and we feel strong before the game. The group brought its energy on the pitch despite being tired.

Messi has a chance to win the World Cup.

Zlatko Dalic praised Messi's performance.

Dalic said that he was the best player in the world. The true Messi was put in a high level performance by him.

Messi was awarded the official man of the match award but the Paris Saint-Germain star reserved special praise for Alvarez, who became only the secondArgentina player to score four goals at the same World Cup while aged 22 or under.

Messi said that the way they play as a team is their best quality.

He had a really good game. He generated a lot of goals. He was the most important player in the team.

It has been 36 years since Argentina lifted the World Cup.

"I don't want to be too emotional," he said. It is hard to say this in words. This is what I wanted to be when I was an Argentine.

It's impossible not to do what my players do when you are representing your country. It is exciting.

It's really exciting if you win or lose. We could feel their support and it was unforgettable. This is a reason to be happy.