Manchester City’s Argentine forward Julian Alvarez wants captain Lionel Messi to continue playing for Argentina for as long as he wants, as he hopes to repeat their 2022 World Cup success. Notably, Messi completed football by winning every major accolade that is there to be won by a footballer, after he clinched the World Cup with Argentina in 2022. However, the crown came with many more Argentinian expectations of seeing their star player continue playing even further with his national side.
Amongst those many expectations lies the hopes of Argentinian forward Julian Alvarez who, according to his words, echoes the opinions of the rest of his national side teammates when he said that he is hopeful for longer national team involvement for Messi. The Argentina forward, along with Messi, played a key role in winning the World Cup after 36 years in Qatar. They are expected to team up again for Lionel Scaloni’s side in the upcoming Copa América, with many speculating that it will mark Messi’s last major international tournament with Argentina.
“It will depend on him but I think if he wants to he can do it comfortably,”Julian Alvarez said about Messi’s Argentina future
During his interview with GOAL, Alvarez talked about how he grew up idolising the Inter Miami forward and even shared an instance from his younger days with the national side when he asked for a picture with the 36-year-old. The 24-year-old forward has been phenomenal for both his national side and Manchester City, also playing a huge role in his club’s treble win last season.
“When I was growing up he was my idol and I remember in the training sessions with the senior team I asked him for a photo,” Alvarez added.
Alvarez even shared his experience of joining the senior team for the first time and how he observed the mentality of Messi and the other players in the squad, which is something that he takes pride in. The player believes that Messi could “comfortably” continue playing for his national side, even beyond the Copa América 2024, if he wants to.
“âæWhen I went to the senior team I got another point of view. It’s something crazy but also really nice and I try to enjoy every moment playing with him. And I’m very proud of everything we’ve achieved with the national team in this time and which he got after searching for it so long.”
Alvarez will be joining Messi during the 2024 Copa América, set to take place in the United States and is set to start on June 21, 2024, with the World Champions Argentina featuring in the opening match.
