Argentina captain Lionel Messi posted a special message on his Instagram story to celebrate his country's Independence Day. The South American country celebrates its 208th independence day on July 9.
On the historic occasion for his country, Messi wrote on his Instagram story:
"Happy Independence Day."
Lionel Messi is one of Argentina's biggest icons and among its best-ever sportspersons. Considered as a superstar since the start of his career, Messi took his reputation to the status of a legend when he helped La Albiceleste win the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Argentina captain played a starring role in his country's win. Messi scored seven goals and provided three assists during the competition and ended up as the winner of the Golden Ball award.
Lionel Messi recently spoke about Argentina's shocking start to the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Lionel Messi 'completed' football when he helped Argentina win the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The triumph marked an end to La Albiceleste's 36-year-long drought in the competition.
However, their tournament got off to a far from ideal start. Messi and co. were defeated 2-1 by Saudi Arabia in their opening fixture of the competition. Recalling the disastrous start to the tournament, Messi told beIN Sports:
"I think that the first match was one of the key moments for us, apart from the fact that it was a big blow for us. I think from then on we started to think and play differently because we knew we couldn't make any more mistakes, any mistakes would put us out of the competition."
He further said:
"We didn't expect to start that way, losing the first match against Saudi Arabia which we thought or there was the perception that it was going to be the easiest match of the group. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It was one of the most difficult moments for us and then obviously beating Mexico put it back into our hands again and we were able to play calmly."
Argentina, however, soon proved why they were the team to watch in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The tournament eventually ended in a triumphant manner for the South American country.