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| Lionel Messi of Argentina laughs during the Argentina Training Session at on December 12, 2022 in Doha, Qatar. |
Zlatan Ibrahimovic thinks it’s written in the stars
for Lionel Messi to win the World Cup with Argentina in
Qatar.
The South
American nation have made it to the last-four, and will face Croatia in the semi-finals on Tuesday night.
This year’s
tournament has been full of upsets, with Brazil, Germany, Spain and Belgium all
exiting earlier than expected. It has been one of the least predictable World
Cups in recent memory, but Ibrahimovic is confident that he already knows who
the eventual winners will be.
‘I think
it’s already written who will win, and you know who I mean. I think Messi will
lift the trophy, it’s already written,’ Ibrahimovic told reporters during AC
Milan’s mid-season tour of Dubai.
If Argentina
are to go all the way, they may have to get past Morocco in the final, should
they beat France in their own last-four clash.
Morocco are
the first African nation to make it to the semi-finals, but Ibrahimovic has
claimed he is not shocked that they have done so well.
‘I don’t
think it’s a surprise because I knew they were good before the World Cup. Then
obviously in the World Cup everything can happen,’ he added.‘That they
reached the semi-final, maybe a little surprised, but remember it’s a good
team, a good nation. And these surprises I think the people like; they enjoy
because they want these things to happen so they get some kind of extra
adrenaline.’
Ibrahimovic
and Messi played alongside one another at Barcelona in 2009-10, winning LaLiga
together, as well as the Spanish Super Cup and Club World Cup.
Messi has
gone on to win almost every prize in the sport, including the Ballon d’Or on
seven occasions, but the World Cup has eluded him so far.
Now playing
at his fifth World Cup, he is within touching distance of lifting international
football’s biggest trophy, and Ibrahimovic is backing him and Argentina to get
over the line on Sunday.
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