‘He is pure history’: Scaloni pays tribute to Messi before World Cup final

The brief

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni, captain Lionel Messi and goalkeeper Emiliano “Dibu” Martinez met with the media on Friday in New York City, two days ahead of Argentina’s second consecutive World Cup final appearance. Few considered Argentina – who are built around an aging core and led by a 39-year-old talisman – to make it this far. Yet the team has put together a string of heart-stopping, chaotic performances, capped off by a memorable and unexpected semi-final win over England, to set a date with Spain on Sunday. In Spain, El Albiceleste will face a team that is in some ways the anti-Argentina. There is very little chaos in their…