Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona. Often considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only football player in history to win five FIFA Ballons d'Or, four of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. With Barcelona he has won eight...
NationalityArgentinian
ProfessionSoccer Player
Date of Birth24 June 1987
CitySanta Fe, Argentina
Motivation is not something I struggle with. I love playing football, I love being in training.
I don't look at records, that's not why I'm playing the game. Goals, of course. Every player in my position wants to score goals. But most of all, trophies. My target is always to win trophies for Barcelona, and that will always be my motivation, to win things. Nothing feels better than doing that as a team.
In football as in watchmaking, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigour and precision.
My motivation comes from playing the game I love
Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn't thrill me or make me play better because there are benefits to being wealthy. I'm just happy with a ball at my feet. My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn't paid to be a professional footballer I would willingly play for nothing.
We can't be overconfident. It happened to us when we were leading 2-1 in last year's game. Chelsea has players who can score two goals at any moment and we have to realize we have achieved nothing yet.
We cannot allow that to happen again. I am sure Argentina has a very strong team and the players have the will to win the title. ... We would like to avoid playing against one of those strong teams in the first round.
It was obvious from his first attack on me that he went in to kick me on the knee. It meant the second time he came in really hard, he was going over the ball with the intention of hurting me. That was why I jumped and that is the only reason he did not do real damage.
I want to avoid comparisons because for me there has never been anyone quite like him.
I have many years to get better and better, and that has to be my ambition. The day you think there is no improvements to be made is a sad one for any player.
Being named among the best at something is special and beautiful. But if there are no titles, nothing is won.
This is a re-debut. The first one was a bit short.
This defeat hurts because of the way it happened and because it broke our record of victories.
I rushed to get back before it was time.