Javier Zantti Lionel Messi's Value Equivalent Diego Maradona: He Deserves His First World Cup

Argentine national team player, Lionel Messi. (Photo: Twitter @Argentina)

JAKARTA - Former Argentine national team player Javier Zantti insists Lionel Messi is on par with Diego Maradona and deserves to win his first World Cup.

Argentina will appear in their sixth World Cup final against France at the Lusail Stadium, Sunday, December 18 evening WIB. La Albiceleste is trying to prevent France from becoming the first team to defend the trophy since Brazil in 1962.

This weekend's final match will be Messi's 26th match in World Cup history. This is most likely La Pulga's last appearance in the biggest event.

"Messi is a great player. I think he is on par with Diego [Maradona]," Zantti said as quoted by Live Score, Friday, December 16, 2022.

Messi will be the mainstay of Lionel Scaloni's squad in the match later. The former Barcelona player almost certainly played from the first minute and could be the first player to record a contribution of 20 goals in this competition.

Currently he has 11 goals and eight assists in his name.

"I think a lot of people want Messi to win because of what he represents in the world and because of the way he interprets football," said Zantti.

"Leo deserves it [World Cup trophy] and the players are trying hard to get to that moment. He is the strongest player in the world and he makes the difference on the pitch," he added.

Although he hopes Messi wins, Zantti remains vigilant with France's strength. The defending champion team is considered to have a very complete composition of players.

"I'm worried about [Kylian] Mbappe, [Antoine] Griezmann, [Olivier] Giroud, if [Adrien] Rabiot plays, he's a quality player, and they have a great goalkeeper," he said.

"This is a team that has worked for a long time with this coach. It's a very complete team, very organized. But it's a final and anything can happen."