De Paul urges fans to enjoy Messi

Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul urged supporters to enjoy every moment with Lionel Messi instead of focusing on retirement talk before Friday’s World Cup Round of 32 meeting with Cape Verde in Miami. Messi, now 39 and playing in his sixth World Cup, has scored six goals in three matches and leads the tournament scoring chart. Questions around his international future continue to follow Argentina’s captain, but De Paul pushed those conversations aside. “For me, the main thing is to enjoy Leo Messi every single day, just as every Argentinian citizen,” De Paul said.

“Of course, we always value those things more than what we don’t have anymore. That’s part of life. But we are all enjoying having him around. De Paul has become one of Messi’s closest allies inside the Argentina dressing room and among supporters earned the nickname “Messi’s bodyguard” because of his role around the captain on the pitch. The midfielder, who joined Messi at Inter Miami after leaving Atletico Madrid last year, also spoke about their relationship away from football.

“It means a lot to be a good friend of Lionel Messi. Friendship is one of the most important things that we all have. “I consider myself a very lucky man. For being there, sharing moments with him on and off the pitch. And that makes me really proud.” De Paul also admitted Argentina expected a different knockout opponent when the draw first took shape, but warned against taking Cape Verde lightly. “When the draw was announced, we realised that we might have to face a former World Cup winner, national teams with major players playing in big leagues.”

“We’re facing a team that played very well during the group stages. We need to be very responsible when it comes to tomorrow’s game, because it’s a very important match for us.” Argentina enter the knockout stage as group winners, but De Paul made clear that reputation and previous tournaments count for little once the knockout rounds begin.