"He walked past me at half-time and I was like ‘woah, that’s Messi’."Matty Cash reveals special moment with Lionel Messi that was engineered by his Aston Villa teammate Emiliano Martinez #FIFAWorldCup

WOAH 

‘It doesn’t get better’ – Poland and Aston Villa star Matty Cash excited by Kylian Mbappe clash and reveals Lionel Messi ‘present’ after Argentina encounter

Matty Cash is living his best life with Poland after reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup – and says bring on Kylian Mbappe.

The Aston Villa full-back is starting for the Poles in Qatar and has already faced one superstar in Lionel Messi and now another is up next.

Poland will meet France in their Round of 16 match on Sunday in the country’s first World Cup knockout game since 1986 after taking Group C’s second qualification spot on Wednesday night.

But the Slough-born star – who pledged his international allegiance to Poland in 2021 – admitted he’s relishing a huge test of his own ability.

Speaking to White and Jordan, he said: “It’s obviously surreal [getting through], it’s an amazing moment for everyone to make history really.

“It’s been 30-odd years since the last qualification at a World Cup for the country so, it was an amazing day for everyone yesterday and I’m really looking forward to facing Mbappe!”

Poland’s 2-0 loss to Argentina on Wednesday night was still enough to see them through to the next round, beating Mexico to second spot thanks to a superior goal difference.

Cash explained that he wasn’t sure what went wrong in his country’s final group stage tie, though, but stated the Argentines dominated thanks to having players like Messi in their side.

As soon as Messi’s name was mentioned, host Jim White asked him to explain what it was like going up against him.

And Cash revealed a special moment with the footballing icon that was engineered by his Villa teammate and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

“I tell you the best thing about it was, right, at the end of the game Emiliano Martínez comes up to me and he’s like ‘Cashy I’ve got you a present’,” he said.

“And I was like, ‘what could this be?’. He said follow me into the tunnel, so I’ve gone into the tunnel with him and he’s gone in the changing room, he said ‘wait there’.

“Then he’s walked out with Messi’s shirt for me. It was amazing, it doesn’t get better than that.

“Nah, seeing him in real life up close, I think he walked past me at half-time and I was like ‘woah, that’s Messi’.”

Poland’s knockout game against the reigning world champions will kick-off at 3pm GMT at the Al Thumama Stadium, which you can listen to live on talkSPORT.