Gonzalo Montiel spoke about winning the World Cup, his penalty kick technique, the order and Lionel Messi.
Montiel’s name will forever live in Argentine folklore. The 26 year old scored the last penalty against France which won Argentina the World Cup. And speaking in an interview with DirecTV Sports, he commented about it:
“People let me know about all of their love, they make me live it. When I would go onto the networks (social media), I see videos and images of the World Cup. How do you not cry? You get emotional, I experienced very nice things at the World Cup, I enjoyed it a lot and I get emotional.
“My family sends me videos. I watch them and say “it’s crazy”. It was a unique moment, a dream. A lot of things happened to me, sacrifices made by me and by my family which helped me get to where I am. I am what I am thanks to them.
In regards to his penalty technique and the penalty order:
“Thank God I was able to do it. The order was already predetermined. Lautaro was the fifth kicker and he asked me if I wanted him to kick it but I told him no. He wanted to see if I was well because he saw me in a bad way.
“In the team chat by Scaloni, I was also down but when we got to the middle of the pitch, I was calm and realised that I had to be well to be able to do it. I was very down because I gave the penalty for the 3-3. I was down, everything came into my head. I thought about a lot of things.
“I thought about the team, who played a tremendous match, who came so close to winning it but in an unfortunate play it hit me on the hand. Everyone supported me, that’s important for any player because it gives you peace of mind and confidence.
“The days before, we would always stay and practice penalty kicks. When it was my time, I would try to wait for the last moment and when I would see that he would jump to one side, I would try and change it for the other side.
“When I started to walk, I felt that vibration that it was my turn to take it but when it’s your turn to take it, you don’t think about anything. Only putting it in.
“When I scored the goal, I started to cry. All the people of Argentina that were there, the one’s that were in Qatar, they all came to me. It was a unique moment and there’s no explaining it. Thank God I was able to do it and was able to celebrate with everyone”.
He also spoke about Lionel Messi:
“As everyone sees him on the pitch, he is an animal, a beast. Off the pitch too. He deserved it. He was missing the World Cup and he was able to achieve it. He won every title and he’s still the same persona, calm and humble. The good thing is that he got the World Cup.”
