The day after in the final, which saw La Roja crowned champions for the second time in their history, Lionel Messi posted a message on social media. The Albiceleste captain expressed his deep sadness at not being able to lift the trophy for the second time in a row, but also highlighted all the positives achieved by Argentina during the tournament. The Argentinian magician also congratulated the Spanish team on their victory. “The pain is immense and it will take time for this wound to heal,” he said via his Instagram account.
"But I’ll also take away all the good things…," he continued. "The matches we turned around by giving it our all, which will remain in our memories forever; the support of an entire country which, together with the hard work and effort of this squad, led us to be, once again, amongst the best in the world. It’s hard to appreciate what we achieved today, but this squad reached two consecutive World Cup finals."
He then left a message for all Argentinians. “Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and every message. Once again, we’ve managed to come together as a country and stand united, sharing the immense pride of being Argentinians.”
He concluded by praising the new world champions: “I’d also like to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.”
Following Spain’s World Cup final victory, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni spoke to reporters. Scaloni, who guided Argentina to two successive World Cup finals, that he will remain in charge of Argentina until December, when his contract expires, but that he will almost certainly not continue at the helm of the Albiceleste beyond that date.
“I’ll carry on until December and then I’ll probably step down,” he said in an emotional press conference.
“It’s a spectacular place, a dream come true. It’s been a pleasure to be here. It’s also only right that there should be a change. What must remain is this team spirit, this sense of unity amongst the players and with the people,” he added.
Sources: FIFA Official
