World Cup briefing: Lionel Messi could retire from Argentina duty after Russia

Messi gives hint on his future, England
stars brew up a storm and Brazil win their final warm-up match
against Austria

One-Minute Read

Argentina, who are in World Cup group D with Iceland, Croatia
and Nigeria, were beaten in the final four years ago by Germany and
they also lost two Copa America finals in a row – against Chile in
2015 and 2016.

Barcelona icon Messi has now hinted his Argentina career could
come to an end, Goal.com reports. In an interview with Spanish
newspaper Sport, Messi said he will have to wait and see
how Argentina do this summer. 

“I don’t know,” said Messi. “It will depend how we do, how
it ends. The fact we’ve lost three finals now has led to some
complicated moments with the Argentine press due to the differences
in seeing what it means to reach a final.

“It is not easy and [reaching three finals] has to be
appreciated. It’s true that winning them is important, but getting
there is not easy.”

After 126 caps, 64 goals and an Olympic gold medal, Russia 2018
could be Messi’s last chance to win the World Cup says Sky Sports.

England trio brew up a storm

England players are taking a (tea) leaf out of Lionel Messi’s
book. The Argentine is a huge fan of traditional South American
‘Mate’ tea and Eric Dier, Harry Kane and Dele Alli are also keen on
the caffeine-rich brew.

The Spurs trio were introduced to the drink by club manager
Mauricio Pochettino and Dier said: “At Tottenham, quite a lot of us
have started drinking this thing called Mate. I am a bit addicted
to it. We have a lot of Argentinians at the club, so I started
drinking it with them. And now we are trying to pretend to be South
Americans. I haven’t introduced it to the boys here at England but
me and Danny Rose have a quiet one in our room sometimes.” (Daily Mail)

Dele: I’ve got everything under
control

Dele Alli says he has learnt from his past mistakes but will
still play with passion if he gets picked by England boss Gareth
Southgate. The Spurs midfielder said: “I’ve got everything under
control. I want to play with passion, I want to play with hunger in
every game I play, and I’ve made mistakes in the earlier part of my
career – but you have to make mistakes in order to learn from them,
and if you look at my record I’ve definitely learned from my
mistakes.” (The Guardian)

Neymar scores in Brazil victory

Brazil beat Austria 3-0 in their final World Cup warm-up match
yesterday in Vienna. Gabriel Jesus, Neymar and Philippe Coutinho
were all on target for the World Cup favourites, who have not lost
a match since June last year. (BBC)