Berlin, December 20 (QNA) - Former captain of the German national football team, Lothar Matthaus praises Argentina star Lionel Messi, who broke his record held by Matthews, as the player with the most matches in the history of the World Cup. And that was when he participated in the final match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and led the Argentina national team to win the world title after its 2-4 victory over France on penalties. After they tied 3/3 at the end of the original and extra time for the match, and raised the number of matches he played in the World Cup to 26 matches as the player who played the most matches in the history of the tournament.

Matthaus played 25 matches during his career in the World Cup, the most prominent of which was the final of the World Cup in Italy in 1990, which ended with Germany's victory over his Argentina rival, led by Diego Maradona, before Messi broke his number during the World Cup in Qatar, after playing his 26th match with his country.

Matthaus praised Messi, saying "What a player he is. What a star. How he led this team to the title when he was thirty-five years old. It is something that cannot be described in words." Adding, "If anything was needed to make him immortal with his fans, he has now achieved it. We can be happy and grateful for his experience and continue to admire him." He noted "Messi is definitely the best of this millennium, and one of the greatest athletes we've ever seen."

The retired German star said that the Argentina national team deserved to win the title, because it was "the best team in this wonderful tournament," explaining that he was happy for this football-crazy country - as he described it.

Messi had stated that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which is his fifth, will be the last in his football career, but Matthews said that he would not be surprised if Messi appeared in the next edition of the World Cup in 2026 in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada.

(QNA)