- By Ciaran Varley
- BBC Sport
47 minutes ago
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Lionel Messi: Destiny documentary trailer
Watch Lionel Messi: Destiny on BBC One particular on Saturday, three June at 22:20 GMT, and on BBC iPlayer
A new BBC documentary tells the inside story of how the excellent Lionel Messi lastly won the Planet Cup.
In an hour-lengthy film, the BBC delves into that good results with input from some of these involved – which includes players Emiliano Martinez, Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez, and manager Lionel Scaloni.
Right here are a couple of takeaways from Lionel Messi: Destiny…
A sleepless evening followed defeat by Saudi Arabia
Argentina went into the tournament as 1 of the favourites, and on the back of a 36-game unbeaten run.
But their self-assurance was rocked as they lost their opening Group C game two-1 to Saudi Arabia in 1 of the greatest Planet Cup shocks of all time.
“It was the hardest evening of my life – I could not sleep,” recalls goalkeeper Martinez. “I was afraid of receiving knocked out of my initially Planet Cup.”
The Aston Villa player, 30, compares the game to a boxing match in which 1 individual gets knocked out. “We could not fight back,” he says.
Mac Allister played ‘like he was in his back garden’
The 24-year-old flourished alongside Messi, Enzo Fernandez and Angel di Maria.
“He’s a total midfielder,” says former Argentina correct-back Pablo Zabaleta.
Scaloni is also complete of praise for Mac Allister, saying: “He showed us one thing that we did not know about him – he does not really feel stress.
“It really is like he’s playing in his back garden.”
Argentina’s players felt at residence in Qatar
Scaloni did a excellent job of developing the correct atmosphere for his players in Qatar – which includes importing some residence comforts.
At the time, it was reported the squad had two,000lbs (900kg) of meat flown more than from South America.
“All the things was fantastic,” says Mac Allister. “It felt like residence. We played cards and drank [caffeine rich] mate tea… and even had Argentine meat!”
Zabaleta says these 3 factors are “like a religion” for Argentines.
Messi became ‘that terrible boy’ against the Netherlands
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Netherlands two-two Argentina highlights
Argentina came by means of a specifically fiery quarter-final that featured 18 yellow cards – two of which resulted in the sending-off of Netherlands defender Denzel Dumfries.
Right after the final whistle, the Argentina players taunted their opponents, with Martinez – who saved two penalties in the shootout that followed a two-two draw – shouting at Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal.
“I heard Van Gaal saying that in a penalty shootout they had the benefit,” he stated just after the game. “I feel he wants to hold his mouth shut.”
Even the normally mild-mannered Messi took challenge with a comment from Van Gaal, who had stated the Argentina captain did not “participate substantially” when his group lost the ball.
When Messi scored for the duration of typical time, he ran straight to the Dutch bench and cupped his ears.
That celebration, as the film explains, was inspired by former group-mate Juan Roman Riquelme, who felt badly treated by Van Gaal at Barcelona.
But quite a few have been shocked by this new side to Messi.
“We are a lot more aggressive than the national group he had prior to,” says Martinez. “He was most likely becoming a tiny bit a lot more like us – that terrible boy.”
Martinez is like ‘a kid on the pitch’
Martinez was Argentina’s shootout hero after once more in the final as La Albiceleste beat the defending champions.
His antics drew lots of comment, as he threw the ball away, danced, and celebrated in front of France’s players.
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How Martinez’s antics helped Argentina win shootout
Referring to the jig he did just after Aurelien Tchouameni missed France’s third penalty, he says: “I under no circumstances danced the way I danced just after the second pen that they missed. Under no circumstances in my life.
“That is me. I am a kid on the pitch. I never see what is going to occur subsequent.”