France’s goal-keeper, Hugo Lloris admits Lionel Messi can “decide the fate of the match” if he raises his game in the round of 16 clashes at the FIFA World Cup 2018.
France will face Argentina in 2018 World Cup’s first round of 16 clashes on Saturday.
Messi offered Argentina fans a tantalising moment of brilliance with his goal, as Jorge Sampaoli’s men beat Nigeria 2-1 to avoid a group-stage exit. He also got awarded as the man of the match.
Lloris suggested France will take collective responsibility for keeping the Barcelona star in check,
“We are preparing to play in a last-16 game against Argentina, so we have to be at our top level. We’ve studied their group games, which gives us an indication, but we know players like Messi can step up his own level and decide the fate of the match, as he does with Argentina and Barcelona.”
Though Argentina had a difficult start in the FIFA World Cup 2018, Lloris denies to see them as a weak opponent,
“Argentina have a lot to prove. They’ve had difficult times and still qualified. I’m sure they feel like going much further in the competition. They’ve won the World Cup in the past so it will be a big, difficult match and we’ll have to step up our level.”
Lloris refused to draw on comparisons between the talismanic Messi and young gun Kylian Mbappe,
“Messi is unique; you can’t compare anyone to him. Kylian has huge quality and potential, he’s fast, explosive and needs space. I think [against Argentina] he’ll have more space than the first three matches and as we go on in the competition, the level will step up and will have less room for mistakes. Mbappe has the potential to make the difference in difficult moments.”
France will face Argentina in 2018 World Cup’s first round of 16 clashes on 30 July. While, in the other game of the day, Uruguay will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.