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Former teammates Neymar and Lionel Messi locked horns in the Copa America final in July 2021 as Brazil faced Argentina, and the Brazilian forward showed his competitive side. The Brazilian talisman warned his friend and former teammate Messi of his intent to win, making it clear that everything else was secondary to him.
In an interview held in the build-up to the final, the then-PSG man was quoted by The Mirror as stating his intent to pick up the title with his national team. He praised Messi as the best player of his lifetime but warned the Argentina captain that his admiration was off for 90 minutes, at least.
“Messi is, as I’ve always said, the best player I’ve ever seen play and he’s a great friend, but now we’re in a final, we’re rivals. I want to win and I really want to win this title, which would be my first Copa America.
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“Messi has been looking for his first title with the national team for many years, and every time we [Brazil] are not present at the tournament, I cheered for him. That’s what I’ve been cheering for in the 2014 World Cup final, when he faced Germany. Now Brazil is in the dispute, so our friendship is on the line. The respect between us is still great but only one can win.
“When you’re friends with someone, it’s hard to forget the friendship you have – but for example when you play video games with a friend, you want to beat him anyway. It’ll be the same thing on Saturday.”
Like Neymar pointed out, Lionel Messi was in pursuit of his first senior international trophy, having lost three finals between 2014 and 2016. He emerged as the victor in the final, with his country claiming a narrow 1-0 win thanks to an Angel Di Maria effort.
An enduring image from that final was that of both friends sitting next to each other on the floor, all rivalry aside, after the game was done. Messi and his Argentina teammates have gone on to win each of the next two international competitions they entered for, the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Copa America 2024. Neymar, on the other hand, remains in pursuit of a first senior title with the Selecao.
Former Lionel Messi teammate follows Neymar's footsteps
A former teammate of Lionel Messi and Neymar's, Angel Di Maria, has decided to follow in the footsteps of the Brazilian great. The 37-year-old has been confirmed as a new signing for Rosario Central, joining as a free agent after the expiry of his contract with Benfica this summer.
Di Maria has turned down overtures from clubs in Europe and the temptation to join Lionel Messi in the MLS to return to his boyhood club in the twilight of his career. This comes after Neymar did the same thing in January by signing for Santos as a free agent following an unfortunate stint in Saudi Arabia.
Angel Di Maria has enjoyed a storied career and is one of the all-time greats. The mercurial forward scored in the Copa America and World Cup finals for Argentina as they won both titles in 2021 and 2022. Despite interventions from Lionel Messi and several other teammates, he retired from international football last summer after helping his country win another title.
