Antonella also showed a snapshot with Messi. The couple is dressed in white with cute expressions.
Lionel Messi recounts his greatest moment one year on in Spirit of Sport
The latest episode of the Laureus-presented show marks the first anniversary of Argentina’s incredible World Cup win and features exclusive interviews with Lionel Messi, coach Lionel Scaloni and defender Lisandro Martinez. It’s been a year since Lionel Messi fulfilled his destiny to lift the FIFA World Cup with Argentina in Qatar. After 12 months in which the football legend collected the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award in Paris – and his national team were also recognised as Team of the Year – Messi joined Spirit of Sport for an exclusive interview to reflect on his finest performances at the moment.
Even after a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in the first group game, Messi admitted that his confidence in the team never wavered: “I had faith in myself, in my teammates, in all of us. I don’t know, we just had the feeling that everything would go the way we wanted, we were calm in that sense.”
Messi’s talismanic leadership may have proved decisive, but Argentina’s success story was largely based on team effort. There was the measured role played by coach Lionel Scaloni, who revealed his memories of arguably the most important final in World Cup history, which Argentina won 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw. “The way it unfolded, the way both teams played, not thinking it was a World Cup final, because sometimes you play in fear, but this was the opposite. It was an unforgettable, timeless and historic match,” he said. For defender Lisandro Martinez, the impact of the “victory will stay with him forever: “To be honest, there couldn’t be more ingredients for the final,” he said. “As a world champion in your country, you can make so many millions of people happy.”
In this month’s episode, there’s an emotional visit to Rio de Janeiro, where the winner of the 2022 IWC Drawing Competition was announced. The competition is part of IWC Schaffhausen’s long-standing commitment to Laureus Sport for Good, and sees young people in Laureus-supported programmes draw their own designs around a central theme. This year, the theme was ‘Time for the Planet’, with a focus on the environment and climate change.
João Paulo, 15, who attends the Bola Pra Frente program in Rio, won with his design ‘Uм Mundo Para Todos’, ‘A world for everyone’. His drawing shows people hugging each other all over the planet to show unity without discrimination or prejudice. He said: “What encouraged me the most was the faʋela culture, the desire to show the faʋela to the world. People say that in faʋelas there are only Ƅandits and guns, but that is not true.”
Spirit of Sport also sits down with Laureus Academy member and 2012 Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill for some quick fire questions, including who she considers the GOAT in any sport. Finally, the episode also takes to the skies with Airspeeder, the electric flying car racing series pushing enelope innovation as the next generation of motorsport; and we spotlight a father-daughter duo who completed a record-breaking cycling trip across France for a good cause.
