“Messi will seek to excel and reaffirm his status as the best player in the world”

Daniella Fernández is today a benchmark for sports journalism in our country. She was a pioneer in her role within the sports world and based on a lot of effort and dedication she is recognized as one of the best in Peru. In her role as host, panelist, commentator and reporter at Movistar Deportes, Dani breaks schemes and stereotypes. now with the Qatar World Cup 2022 Above, we spoke with her to find out her expectations and candidates in this World Cup.

– Who is your candidate to win the World Cup in Qatar 2022? Why?

I see Argentina lifting the Cup. I think it is a very solid team and it is a group that has grown together, and that has Lionel Messi as its leader. In addition, having Scaloni as coach, it is seen that they are a very strong group and very convinced of the objective they have in this World Cup. Apart from the whole football issue, we all know how Argentina plays, he is my candidate.

– Who will be the scorer in Qatar 2022?

They will be able to beat Klose’s record with 17 goals, I don’t know (laughs). I don’t know if I see Messi as a goalscorer, but I think Mbappé could score several goals. I think that between the two of them they could take that scorer award.

– Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Mbappé?

I stay with Messi. I think that Cristiano Ronaldo is not going through a good personal moment and he is not having a good time. Mbappé, I think we have Mbappé for a while. Instead, it will be Messi’s last World Cup and I think that’s why he will seek to stand out and reaffirm his status as the best player in the world.

– Where do you watch the World Cup?

In the chamba (laughs). I will literally be there because I have to do the before and after the games. And if I’m not there for sure I’ll see him at home with my dad and my brother.

– Do you have any World Cup cabal?

Normally my cabal was to watch the games with my dad and my brother. But as a World Cup cabal, today that Peru is not here, it is not that it has one. Maybe he wins the one I bet.

– Do you bet or play any dick?

Yeah right if! The first stage has cost us five soles at work. Then it increases.

– What is the first World Cup you remember or the one you saw first?

I will never forget the 94 World Cup in the United States. That is the first World Cup that I remember, it is not all of it, but very marked things: it was the last World Cup for Maradona, celebrating the camera completely out of his mind. The image of the anti-doping control officer who took him away, the final. It is the first that I remember that left me marked with many things. The one that I remember the most, let’s say consciously, is the one from France 98, but in 1994 it’s the first one I saw.

– How much impact did it have on you?

I lived through my dad the passion that soccer generates. That was what marked me a lot. My dad watched all the games, he lived them and that Peru was not there. He transmitted to me that passion that I have for soccer today.

– Does the World Cup really paralyze you?

Yes anyway because it’s part of my job (laughs). If I didn’t see the World Cup at work, I would look for a way to watch almost all the games and be there because I love soccer. I like to watch it, play and today in my position as a journalist, comment on it. So yes, personally if it paralyzes me and in general I think that, in the world, especially in the final stretch if it paralyzes many.

– What is missing for the women’s soccer world cup to attract this attention? Will it ever be done?

I think it is on that path. It happened in the last Women’s World Cup in 2019, when the United States was crowned champion. Little by little I think that it will be achieved, especially when it reaches this part of the world, in South America, because in Europe it is already much more popular. So I see we’re on our way to that.

– What do you think of those who still believe that women don’t know about football?

You are wrong. I think that women are breaking those paradigms and stereotypes because we are very prepared, and that preparation is breaking down barriers. This shows little by little, in a macho society, that women can speak the same or even better about football than many men.