Messi claims Maradona is 'pushing us from heaven'
Lionel Messi and Argentina were thinking of Diego Maradona after battling their way into the World Cup semi-finals.
Argentina's progress led Messi to say Maradona is "pushing us from heaven".
Argentina has not won the tournament since Maradona inspired its second triumph in 1986, and this is the first edition since his passing two years ago.
Albiceleste captain Messi has long been compared to the country's other great number 10, with his performances in Qatar encouraging optimism of a long-awaited third title.
Messi provided a sensational assist for Nahuel Molina against the Netherlands in the quarter-final, then doubled his side's lead from the penalty spot.
But Argentina was given a major scare as substitute Wout Weghorst's dramatic double sent the tie to penalties.
Emiliano Martinez made a pair of saves, allowing Argentina to scrape through 4-3 in the shootout before celebrating on the pitch in front of its fans – with Maradona prominent in their thoughts.
"We leave that on the pitch with our people," Messi said. "We enjoyed that moment both here and in Argentina.
"People are full of enthusiasm, we are among the four semi-finalists.
"Now we have a weight off our shoulders, and we have been saying this from the beginning: Diego is pushing us from heaven."
Messi knew how close Argentina came to elimination, although he did not feel the match should have gone that far as Weghorst's second goal came from a contentious free-kick deep into stoppage time.
"There was a lot of disappointment when they drew level, which was very unfair," Messi said.
"It came from a set-piece which I didn't think was a foul.
"I don't want to speak about referees, you can be punished and you can't be honest. He wasn't up to the standard and he was hard on us.
"When Lautaro Martinez scored, there was a huge weight off our chests. We could've been out after being 2-0 ahead."
Messi, among others, was critical of referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz in a television interview with beIN SPORTS. Lahoz showed 16 yellow cards and a red in a hot-tempered encounter.
"We feared before the game because we knew about this referee and FIFA should review that," Messi said.
"They cannot use a referee like this at this stage of the tournament because he was not in control of the match."
