“We know what we are playing for, we all want to play. We hope that it is a great match for Argentina, and for me as well,” stated the Barcelona superstar, who expressed his desire for it to be “a great match and for Argentina to win without it mattering who scores the goals.”

Messi then shifted his attention to Brazil, by saying that the Selecao “are a team who wait to be attacked so that they can counterattack, they do this in practically all of their matches and we have to be very cautious of this.”

He continued: “They know the way they need to play, but we only think about ourselves.”

Messi, who was confirmed in Argentina’s starting XI against Brazil, stated that he is not preoccupied by the fact that he could be marked by either Daniel Alves of Barcelona or Felipe Melo of Juventus.

“Whoever plays it is all the same, I will play in the same manner as I always do.”

Finally, Messi expressed his delight to play the match in Rosario, the city of his birth, even if it will be at the stadium of rivals Rosario Central.