"Even at 35 years old" - Real Madrid star's wife posts incredible message for Lionel Messi following heroics at FIFA World Cup

Real Madrid star Federico Valverde's wife Mina Bonino has lavished praise on Lionel Messi for his heroics at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Bonino, an Argentinian, tied the knot with her Uruguayan partner on 1 March, 2020, and is a sports journalist by profession.

She recently took to Twitter to express her admiration for Messi by saying that he continues to be a difference-maker for his team even at 35. She also hailed the Argentine skipper as the "best player in the world."

Bonino shared a photo of Lionel Messi holding the Man-of-the-Match award from last night and wrote:

"The photo that is constantly repeated, all matches. And he even gave it up in one. NOBODY can deny that he is the best player in world history. Even at 35 years old, with a pass, he totally changes the game. It is at an impressive level."

Lionel Messi played a crucial role in Argentina's penalty shootout win over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. He got directly involved in both their goals in normal time before converting from the spot in the shootout.

Bonino further stated that she gets a lot of hate from Real Madrid and Uruguay fans for praising Messi as Valverde plays for the Spanish giants, while also receiving flak from Argentinian supporters.

She further wrote:

"Some Madrid fans get mad if I tweet about Messi. Some of my Uruguayan followers don't understand how I can tweet something about Messi as he's a rival of my husband, and some Argentinians think I'm anti Messi. No one will ever be satisfied.

"I don't know Messi. It would be illogical for me to put him ahead of my family, but I would never, ever deny that he is the best player in the world and that he deserves EVERYTHING. I am really enjoying watching the last World Cup of the best players in the world, and instead of comparing, I admire them."

Valverde and Uruguay went out in the group stages.

---

Lionel Messi's Argentina face Croatia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finals

Argentina are into the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and face Croatia at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday for a place in the showpiece clash next Sunday.

Lionel Messi and Co. have come a long way since losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in their opening match but won't be underestimating a gritty Vatreni side.

They overcame both Japan and one of the tournament favorites, Brazil, through penalties after fighting back from a deficit.

The Balkan country's team don't give up easily and Argentina will have to be at their best once more.

These two countries have faced each other only five times at the international level. In World Cups, the upcoming semi-final would be only their third meeting. These two teams had a group-stage game in the 2018 World Cup which the Croatian team won 3-0. Their meeting in the 1998 World Cup ended in favor of Argentina, by 1-0.