‘I Would Be Happier For Messi Than For Myself’ Leandro Paredes Determined For World Cup Glory

Paris Saint Germain and Argentina midfielder, Leandro Paredes has said he would be happier for Lionel Messi than himself if his country manage to take home the World Cup in Qatar this year. 

The 27-year-old spoke to Radio La Red(Via Mundo Albiceleste) about his determination to win the World Cup for Messi. 

He said: “If we win the World Cup, I would be happier for Messi than I would be for myself. Hopefully it will not be Messi’s last World Cup. It’s difficult to go through four more years to play a World Cup. Let him play as a number five and I’ll move back, haha.” 

“Everyone has a chance to be world champions. We are going to try.”

The World Cup in Qatar is most likely going to be Messi’s last chance at winning the trophy. He and his country came desperately close to winning the 2014 edition in Brazil but lost out to Mario Gotze’s extra time goal as Germany took him the prize after a 1-0 victory. 

For this year’s competition, Argentina are in the same group as Saudi Arabia, Poland and Mexico. Messi and his team mates are expected to get through the group with relative ease as they are currently basking in great form. 

They recently claimed the 2022 Finalissimina after a convincing 3-0 victory over European champions, Italy. Messi was awarded Man of the Match after providing two assists in yet another influential display. He then backed that up by scoring all five goals in Argentina’s 5-0 international friendly win over Estonia.

This was the second time in Messi’s entire career that he had scored five goals in a game. He previously did the same in a Champions League game against Bayern Leverkusen back in 2012, the seven times Ballon d’Or winner was playing for Catalan giants Barcelona at the time.

Despite a difficult first season with PSG, Messi’s form for Argentina has been superb, as a result, Paredes has labelled Messi as the only guaranteed starter in the squad. 

He said: “I feel the support but I’m not undisputed (starter). The only one is Leo Messi. The rest of us have to show that we are at the level of the national team. Dibu, Cuti, Rodri, Gio and Lautaro have been doing well for a long time. But only Messi is undisputed.”

The 2022 Qatar World Cup will get underway on Monday 21 November with Senegal vs Netherlands. England will also feature on the first day as Gareth Southgate's side go up against Iran.