Higuaín: 'Messi saved me when we lost the 2014 final'

Former Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuaín tearfully recounted his difficult days after the 1-0 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final.

Higuaín, who failed to capitalize on a great scoring position in extra time in the final, said he felt a deep sense of loneliness and guilt in the locker room after the match: "Nobody spoke to me in the locker room. I sat in silence, feeling as if the whole world was blaming me. Some of my teammates were looking at me angrily. I was carrying the whole weight of guilt on my shoulders."

Explaining that Lionel Messi came to him at that very moment, Higuaín said the following: "Messi came to me, hugged me and said: 'It's okay. This is soccer. We've reached the final, we're champions.' At that moment, he comforted me."

Higuaín continued: "Then I found out that the coach didn't want to call me back to the national team. Messi stepped in again, spoke to the coach and said, 'It's not his fault. In soccer we all lose together. Nobody is perfect'. So the coach changed his mind and took me back in the team. Without Messi I would still feel guilty today."

For Messi, who lifted the World Cup in Qatar, he added these emotional words: "I was really happy to see Messi win the World Cup, he deserved it so much. His heart is really big."