World Cup briefing: Lionel Messi could retire from Argentina duty after Russia

Lionel Messi could retire from the international stage but his decision will depend on how Argentina perform at the World Cup in Russia.

Argentina, who are in World Cup group D with Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria, were beaten in the final four years ago by Germany and they also lost two Copa America finals in a row - against Chile in 2015 and 2016.

Barcelona icon Messi has now hinted his Argentina career could come to an end, Goal.com reports. In an interview with Spanish newspaper Sport, Messi said he will have to wait and see how Argentina do this summer.

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“I don’t know,” said Messi. “It will depend how we do, how it ends. The fact we’ve lost three finals now has led to some complicated moments with the Argentine press due to the differences in seeing what it means to reach a final.

“It is not easy and [reaching three finals] has to be appreciated. It’s true that winning them is important, but getting there is not easy.”

After 126 caps, 64 goals and an Olympic gold medal, Russia 2018 could be Messi’s last chance to win the World Cup says Sky Sports.

England trio brew up a storm

England players are taking a (tea) leaf out of Lionel Messi’s book. The Argentine is a huge fan of traditional South American “mate” tea and Eric Dier, Harry Kane and Dele Alli are also keen on the caffeine-rich brew.

The Spurs trio were introduced to the drink by club manager Mauricio Pochettino and Dier said: “At Tottenham, quite a lot of us have started drinking this thing called mate. I am a bit addicted to it. We have a lot of Argentinians at the club, so I started drinking it with them. And now we are trying to pretend to be South Americans. I haven’t introduced it to the boys here at England but me and Danny Rose have a quiet one in our room sometimes.” (Daily Mail)

Dele: I’ve got everything under control

Dele Alli says he has learnt from his past mistakes but will still play with passion if he gets picked by England boss Gareth Southgate. The Spurs midfielder said: “I’ve got everything under control. I want to play with passion, I want to play with hunger in every game I play, and I’ve made mistakes in the earlier part of my career - but you have to make mistakes in order to learn from them, and if you look at my record I’ve definitely learned from my mistakes.” (The Guardian)

Neymar scores in Brazil victory

Brazil beat Austria 3-0 in their final World Cup warm-up match yesterday in Vienna. Gabriel Jesus, Neymar and Philippe Coutinho were all on target for the World Cup favourites, who have not lost a match since June last year. (BBC)