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Former England defender Gary Neville is of the opinion that Argentine forward Lionel Messi is the best player in the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup, currently going on in Qatar. This comes ahead of Argentina's epic clash in the final of the mega event, where they are set to face defending champions France on Sunday, December 18.
Neville chose Messi as his choice for the best player of the tournament because he is of the belief that his club teammate Kylian Mbappe has a far better team compared to Messi.
“I'm going to go with Lionel Messi. It's between Kylian Mbappe and Messi, but I'm going with Messi because Mbappe is in a far better team. Mbappe has got some great players around him whereas the players around Messi are of a good standard but not at the same level,” said Neville.
Messi has scored five goals and three assists in the tournament, and according to Neville, he is delivering for Argentina in many crucial moments. “Messi is nothing like the player he was 10 years ago obviously because of his age, but he's just delivering in one or two moments, unbelievable moments with an assist, a goal.
The rest of the Argentina players are supporting Messi in an incredible way with tenacity and spirit. I suspect whoever wins on Sunday will be crowned player of the tournament,” the former Manchester United player added.
Meanwhile, Albiceleste's semifinal hero Julian Alvarez will win the best young player of the World Cup, beating the likes of England's Jude Bellingham and his own teammate Enzo Fernandez. He also thinks that Alvarez's form has ensured that he replaces Lautaro Martinez in Argentina’s starting XI.
“I'm going to go with Julian Alvarez, who has been outstanding for Argentina. His performance in the World Cup semifinal against Croatia, which is a fantastic team, was brilliant. Alvarez has become really important to Messi. When Messi was playing with Lautaro Martinez earlier in the tournament it wasn't really happening for him, but Alvarez has emerged in the last few games and his work in and around Messi is noticeable. He's a bright spark, he's on the same wavelength as Messi,” Neville added.
