Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has admitted that he gets 'goosebumps' seeing Argentina teammate Lionel Messi in action as the South American outfit continue their quest for World Cup glory.
The Albiceleste suffered a surprise defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening match in Qatar, but have since won three games in a row and progressed to the quarter-finals thanks to a last-16 victory over Australia. Paris Saint-Germain superstar Messi scored the first goal for Argentina, before Manchester City ace Julian Alvarez grabbed the second.
Messi has scored in three of the four fixtures for the South American nation in Qatar, and United centre-back Martinez has opened up on the 35-year-old's mindset at the World Cup.
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Martinez has only started one match for Lionel Scaloni's side so far at the tournament, but came on in the 2-1 triumph over the Socceroos and made a spectacular block late on in the game to deny a certain goal.
"To see Lionel Messi giving everything on the pitch, I get goosebumps," Martínez told Dutch media outlet AD.nl.
"As a teammate you give everything for him. He is the greatest of them all. To have him as my teammate makes me extremely proud."
Argentina face off against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals on Friday evening, with Louis van Gaal's side having cruised past USA in the Round of 16.
Mesis, who won the Copa America with Argentina last year, is hunting his first World Cup crown after losing to Germany in the final of the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Meanwhile, Martinez, who has made 21 appearances in all competitions for United this season, is enjoying his first taste of a World Cup.
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