Hernan Crespo discusses Lionel Messi and memories of England game in 1998

In an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes, former Argentina striker Hernan Crespo discussed what it would mean to his country if Lionel Messi won the World Cup and his memories of that game against England in 1998.

Crespo spoke to us during a thrilling and unpredictable start to the World Cup which could get even better as you can win up to a grand with our free-to-play half-time quiz at every match.

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Argentina want to win World Cup for Messi

I played with Lionel Messi in the 2006 World Cup, where, at the time, he’d just won the U20 World Cup and was sent straight into the senior team. You must understand he was very young and so that guy was so shy around us. He’s a great leader for us, not just about football, but in terms of the example he sets, and how people feel when they’re playing against him. Around him, everybody becomes better, it’s simple.

I played in two tournaments with him: Germany in 2006 and the Copa America in 2007, where we lost in the final. I’ve been lucky enough to share those competitions with him, and what I saw – even at that age – was a great, great player. A different player, in terms of his touch, his agility and obviously his skills. It was spectacular to see at times. You’d finish your training session and your eyes would be all over the place because you’d just watched him do so many magical things with the ball.

Every time, during training sessions, he made something special happen. I think he deserves everything in football, because he’s the kind of player who just has so much respect for everything in the game: the opponents, the rules, the fans, the club or country he’s representing. I think football has a debt with him – he deserves a World Cup.

Our feelings as Argentinians are simple. We want Lionel Messi to win the World Cup, and then we want Argentina to win the World Cup. He comes first. It’s more important that Messi wins it. He’s a part of all of us, and has been for around 15 years. He really does deserve it.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player, that’s obvious. But I compare Messi and Ronaldo to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Both are great, great players, and we need to take off our hats for them. But your feeling when you watch Messi and Federer is different. Ronaldo and Nadal are still incredible at what they do, but, for me, Lionel Messi and Roger Federer are another level.

Campbell and Adams were built like rocks

I can’t really say I was the type of player who spent much time in the gym, but that game against England in 1998 changed everything for me. I came on with just over 20 minutes to go and I tried to back into both Sol Campbell and Tony Adams… all I could think was ‘wow’ – I bounced straight off them! They were at a completely different level, they were so strong, they were just like two rocks. I thought to myself ‘OK, now you really have to go to the gym!’ That was the biggest thing I learned from that World Cup, and it really helped me understand that if you really want to play at the highest level, then you must be 100% professional and that means constantly improving both physically and mentally.

In terms of the game, it was an amazing match to be a part of. I can remember when England went down to 10 men, it really felt like we were up against 10 lions, in particular Alan Shearer, who covered every part of the pitch to keep his side in the game. He really set the standard for his team-mates, and even I can remember at the time just thinking ‘wow, what a number nine!’ He was a real fighter on that night.

When you’re playing at this high level for the first time – I don’t want to say it caught me by surprise but the standard was exceptional. It was a really hard game. England had players all over the pitch who were at some of the biggest clubs in world football. You could see the players were living up to the expectations of their supporters, where if you’re going to play at this level, you’ve got to give absolutely everything you can for your country.

I learned so much from that match. Normally when you lose a match like that, fans want to find someone guilty and for England on that night it was David Beckham. Four years later, we met again in Japan and he scored what turned out to be the winner from the penalty spot. I can remember seeing the happiness on his face. When you go back and watch that celebration when he’s kissing his shirt, I understood what he was thinking and how he was feeling, because he’d had four years of suffering for what happened on that night in 1998. This is the World Cup. You can become an idol or the guilty man of your nation – the pressure he was under at that time was so intense, but it’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.

It’s really difficult to say for sure whether England would have gone through on that night with 11 men. But the rhythm that they were playing with was amazing, so when Beckham got sent off, we knew the advantage was going to be with us, and that there was an opportunity for us to create more chances, but even then, the game ended up being decided on penalties.

Sometimes these huge games are decided by small moments and on that occasion Beckham made a mistake. But at the same time, with that great character of his, he went away and rebuilt his career, after coming back from France in 1998 with England supporters disappointed in him, something inside him happened, because he learned from the situation and became the Beckham that everybody knows and loves.

Michael Owen’s goal on that night was unbelievable – it all just happened so fast. I remember watching from the bench and just thinking ‘what even is this guy?!’ He was so fast! This is the kind of player who surprised everyone – especially at that World Cup. He unfortunately really suffered with a lot of injuries, which is a real shame, because all of us around the world wanted to see something more from him. The injuries prevented that; they stopped him from becoming the great player that everyone expected him to be. It’s true that he won the Ballon d’Or, and yes, he did have a very good career. But all of us – I think even him included – just expected more of him, but the injuries stopped that.

A lot of time has passed since 1998, and while I don’t remember exactly what was said in the dressing room at half-time, I do remember all of us were breathing a huge sigh of relief that we were level. In that first half, I really was starting to play, because England looked so quick and so strong, so when Javier Zanetti scored that great goal, which was an excellent move from a free-kick, we could all breathe again. The game was level and the pressure was back on England as the momentum was with us going into half-time.

We were very lucky to go in level at half-time because we were playing against an incredible team that were so quick going forward, and so difficult to break down.

I got on the pitch at around 68 minutes into the game, and the game famously ended up going to penalties. As a kid, it was always my dream to play for my country at a World Cup. Going back around a month or so before the tournament started, I really felt I was going to be a part of the starting XI in France, but I suffered an injury in Italy, which meant all of a sudden there was a race and a fight for me to be part of the final squad. The competition completely changed for me.

This was my first game of the tournament, and when it went to penalties I knew that it was my responsibility as a centre-forward to put myself forward – that was completely normal. I know now, 100%, that I wasn’t in good shape, but I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to score a goal and help my country.

In that moment, when I put the ball down, as I stepped up and hit it, I felt something in my abductor. This isn’t an excuse, by the way, because David Seaman made a very good save and that’s football. Even though the team went through to the next round, for me it was a long night. I didn’t get any sleep because I knew my World Cup was finished. And my last memory was that I missed my penalty against England.

On this day in 1998, Argentina defeated England at the 1998 World Cup in what was an all time classic match. Great players, incredible goals, penalties within the 120 minutes, a David Beckham red card, a disallowed golden goal and penalties!🇦🇷pic.twitter.com/IDZizqphYW

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) June 30, 2022

You don’t know if you’ll ever have another chance to play in the World Cup. There are so many factors you have to consider, even if you’re playing well in the months leading up to the tournament, you could pick up an injury, or the manager could choose somebody who has played better than you. You might not be a part of the new manager’s plans. These are all of the things that were going around in my head, but most of all, it was that uncertainty about whether or not I’d have a chance to make amends for my penalty miss.

It was a very hard time for me. And on that night in particular, I couldn’t really say anything other than thank you to Carlos Roa, our goalkeeper, for saving me. If England had gone through, I’d have been to Argentina fans what David Beckham was to England fans. For this I can only thank my goalkeeper.

That night was very tough for me. It’s something I wasn’t sure I could get over in the moment, but the very next day I had one thing on my mind, and that was preparing for 2002. I knew with this injury that my World Cup was finished and so I needed to give myself the best chance in the next four years to be ready and make up for my miss.

I never watched that game back, actually, until a year ago. I didn’t want to see it, not only because of my injury, and the penalty miss, but my memory was that I didn’t play very well at all. I can look back now and say I don’t think I respected the level that World Cups demand from you. But one year ago, one friend came to me and said “no, let’s watch it again.”

And while I don’t want to say I played very well, I definitely didn’t do badly. My memory was much worse than the reality. I’m glad I’ve now watched it back because it really wasn’t too bad.

It’s a really difficult feeling to explain when you miss a penalty on such a big stage like that. Walking back to my players after Seaman makes that save, I could just feel a huge weight dropped on my shoulders – as if there was an elephant on either side – because I know the advantage is now with England. It was too much for me to handle.

But at the same time, I’m always grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a big game. Obviously I would love to have more positive personal memories from the night, because in that moment after I missed my penalty, it felt like my world came crashing down. I wanted to be in another part of the planet, as far away from that stadium as I could be. You feel really bad, for your team-mates and for your supporters back home.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we eventually made it through, of course, but it was a really painful experience for me. Even when Paul Ince missed his penalty straight after me, and then when David Batty also had his saved, nothing could help me there and then. Even though we were through, of course I was delighted for us as a group, but personally, I missed a penalty and I felt in my leg that I was injured, so I knew my tournament was over. That was it. That was my World Cup over. Whatever happened in the rest of the tournament was irrelevant in my mind, because all I had was that picture of me missing a penalty, against England.

I always dreamed to be part of a World Cup, but you never know what’s going to happen when you get there. And that night in particular was so far from what I dreamed about as a kid. I was so happy for my team-mates, but inside I was destroyed.