Messi wants to avoid Spain at WCup
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Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi says the worst possible draw for his Argentina side at next year’s World Cup would be Spain in the first round.
“The worst that could happen to us would be to draw Spain in the group stages,” Messi told TyC Sports yesterday from Moscow where Argentina plays Russia in an international friendly on Saturday.
“I would prefer to avoid them, they’d be tough opponents.”
Champion in 2010, Spain will be in the second pot of seeds, alongside England, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay, when the draw is made on December 1.
Four-time World Cup winner Italy, which faces Sweden in their playoff match, will also go into pot two should it qualify.
The top eight seeds are made up of the seven teams leading the FIFA rankings — Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland and France — as well as host nation Russia.
In the interview with the Argentinian television station, Messi named Brazil, Germany and France alongside Spain as favorites to take the World Cup crown in Russia.
“I think that at the moment, they’re the strongest teams who give the best impressions, those who are playing best, with the best individuals.”
Messi also broached Argentina’s last-gasp qualification for the World Cup finals, which the Barcelona star sealed with a hat-trick in a rare 3-1 away victory over Ecuador. “I always believed we’d get there, but I thought we would have tied up qualification before the Ecuador game,” the striker said.
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