Former Manchester United player Patrice Evra has claimed that Lionel Messi is looking to reach the "same level as Diego Maradona" when Argentina play France in the World Cup final, as he hailed the Paris Saint-Germain star as "the greatest" alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Argentina will be looking to recover from their last World Cup final heartbreak when they play France on Sunday. The South American side came agonisingly close to winning the trophy eight years ago, but lost to Germany courtesy of a 113th minute winner from Mario Gotze.
Lionel Scaloni's side find themselves up against European opposition once again, as Didier Deschamps' squad look to retain their status as champions having won the competition in 2018. France and Argentina, who have been superb throughout the tournament, boast a vast array of attacking talent as fans prepare themselves for what is set to be a mouth-watering tie.
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Messi will be looking to get his hands on one of the few trophies that has evaded him during his career. This is something that Evra believes the 35-year-old will be looking to do in order for Argentinian fans to hold him in the same regard as Maradona.
The former United man told Sky Sports: “Messi, Ronaldo, they’re already the greatest. I think this is for the Argentina player to put it by the same level of Diego Maradona. But even when they say Messi [has not had] a great record with the Argentina national team, actually he already plays six finals with them.
“So the debate is not Messi to be the greatest … he’s already the greatest, but it is for the Argentina people to put him at the same level as Diego Armando Maradona.”
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