Midfielder Gvardiol: 'Messi is better than Ronaldo'

*Morocco - Croatia: 10pm Saturday, December 17, on MetaSports.

Gvardiol is one of the best defenders of the 2022 World Cup. But in the encounter with Argentina in the semi-finals, he could not complete the task and received a 0-3 defeat with his teammates. Gvardiol was even turned into a "joke" by Messi in a situation where he passed and assisted Julian Alvarez to set the victory for Argentina in the 69th minute.

Even so, Gvardiol did not disappoint. On Mundo Deportivo (Spain), Gvardiol admits that any player can make mistakes, especially defensive positions, and he feels proud to be up against the best player in the world right now. in. "I've met Messi before, but when I play for the national team, he's like a different version," said the 20-year-old midfielder. "Later, I will tell my children about having the opportunity to play against the best player in football history at the World Cup."

The Croatian midfielder added that since he was a young player, he has been a huge fan of Messi and believes him to be a "100-year-old" talent. "When I was a kid, I always had to listen to the debate around the question between Messi and Ronaldo, who is better," Gvardiol said. "Although most of my friends choose Ronaldo, I still hold the view that Messi is an excellent player."

At this year's World Cup, Gvardiol teamed up with experienced centre-back Dejan Lovren, creating a shield in front of goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic's goal. Before losing to Argentina, Croatia had only conceded three goals, despite facing a series of formidable opponents such as Belgium or Brazil.

When talking about the performance of the home team's defense throughout the tournament, Gvardiol said it was the result of discipline and effort from each player. "Besides the center-back and goalkeeper, the whole team must complete the task of not leaving the opponent with a space to attack with the first layer of shield being the center position," the Leipzig player shared.

Currently, Gvardiol is facing the opportunity to receive the best young player award at the 2022 World Cup. However, he still puts the team's achievements first when he said that Croatia's goal is to win a medal to give to the fans. at home and hope to recover in time to play in the match against Morocco. According to Gvardiol, he had to suppress pain to play the full 90 minutes in the semi-finals because of a foot problem.

The bronze medal match between Croatia and Morocco will take place at Khalifa Stadium tomorrow, December 17.