England defender Nico O’Reilly is relishing the prospect of facing Lionel Messi when England meet Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
Describing the opportunity as once-in-a-lifetime, O’Reilly revealed that he considers Messi the best player to ever touch a football pitch.
England goalie Pickford added that it feels great to finally get the chance to face a footballer he watched as a kid.
His words, “I can’t wait. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He’s coming towards the end of his career. For me personally, he’s the best player to ever touch a football pitch. And yeah, I can’t wait for the challenge.”
Pickford added, “He has scored so many goals and contributed to so many over his career. It’s great to finally come up against him after so long, and watching him as a kid.
We all know how good Messi is but we also know how good Argentina are. We can’t solely rely on [stopping] Messi. We’ve got to focus on their other strengths and the weaknesses we can take advantage of.”
Lionel Messi, also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes, and in 2020 he was named to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team.
Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 35 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles and the UEFA Champions League four times.
With his country, he won the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (eight), and most assists in La Liga (192) and the Copa América (17).
He also has the most international goals by a South American male (103). Messi has scored over 800 senior career goals for club and country, and has the most goals by a player for a single club (672).
