Quote from: Ayers on Today at 12:01:05 AM

Quote from: nullama on September 25, 2022, 01:40:26 AM

Quote from: Ayers on September 24, 2022, 08:43:37 PM

~snip~
there is no question in my mind that the Nations League is a complete waste of time and energy on the part of the players. with the world cup approaching, i don't think there is time for players to play in the Nations League as well as the possibility of them getting injured since there are key players for a nation who can single-handedly win any match they play in. in spite of this, i have to admit that i was very disappointed with both Germany and England during the match. they may have been playing safe so that no players get injured, but even after that their games were really slow-paced, so it could be that they were playing safe to prevent any injuries.

There's also the fact that the Nations League prevents South American teams to play against most of the best teams in the world for practice.

Argentina ended up playing against Honduras recently for a friendly match, and Messi got almost injured from it.

Still Argentina seems to have hopes for this world cup. Here's some background about it: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/sep/24/against-all-odds-lionel-messi-has-one-last-shot-at-world-cup-glory-with-argentina

there is no doubt that i dislike the fact that South American teams are not allowed to make a bid for the Nations League as this would have made the league more competitive
and would have generated more revenue with teams such as Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, and Uruguay competing for the league
after Messi was tackled in such a harsh manner, i was really scared

there is a possibility that he could have been out for months, who knows?

it is important to note that he is doing well now and he is the only hope for Argentina as he is keeping the team together and this may be the last time he is involved in a major tournament
i believe Argentina will have a good chance of making it to the finals of this World Cup if Messi's teammates support him well enough

The Argentine team is very confident this time. All of them have a very good understanding. Coach Scaloni has taught the team well how to win the match. Everyone in the team will want to do well in this World Cup, at least for Messi.