Messi-led Argentina national team to play in Kerala next year
World Cup-winning Argentinian football team led by iconic Lionel Messi will play in Kochi next year, Kerala State Sports Minister V Abdurahiman announced on Wednesday.
Legendary former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger feels Kylian Mbappe is the leading contender to shine post-Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s dominance as the megastars in world football enter the twilight of their careers.
Portugal and Juventus superstar Ronaldo is 35 while Argentine great Messi, who plays for FC Barcelona, is 32.
“We had never seen players like that, who can absolutely be creative in any tight situation,” Wenger told TalkSPORT.
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“These players are now getting towards the end (of their career) — Ronaldo, Messi — but it’s now about the next generation.
“The next generation is maybe French. At the moment, the leading player could be Mbappe, of course Neymar, that we know, but England as well.
“England has a good chance now; they are doing very well at youth level. They have done well with Gareth Southgate at the World Cup. I was hoping that at the European Championship, they could be one of the contenders,” said French man Wenger.
The likes of young English players Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold have done well for Manchester United and Liverpool respectively in the English Premier League while England have won the U-17 World Cup in 2017 where the likes of Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho did well.
Mbappe is a World Cup winner with France.
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