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
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.
Other teams have offered me really big money but my love for Galatasaray is real. I want to play in major leagues and my dream team is Liverpool F.C. As I always mention, Liverpool attracts me because of their tradition. In Europe, I am a Liverpool supporter, so if I go to play in Europe, I would like to play for them.
I never had any problems with my height. I was always the smallest kid, at school and in my teams.
One of the Arsenal players came up to me afterwards and said it had been an honor to be on the same pitch as me. I thought, My God, that is a great thing to say when your team has just lost.
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.
I am the same person as always and I have the good fortune to play in a great team. It was an historic year for Barca and for me but it's thanks to the work of everyone.
I want to concentrate on winning things with Barcelona and Argentina. Then if people want to say nice things about me when I have retired, great. Right now, I need to concentrate on being part of a team - not just on me.
It's crazy to say that after three games [without a goal] I was in crisis. I do not care whether I score or not, what matters is that the team win and continue to do so.
When the year starts the objective is to win it all with the team, personal records are secondary.
I'm lucky to be part of a team who help to make me look good, and they deserve as much of the credit for my success as I do for the hard work we have all put in on the training ground.
It's not so easy for us when we play teams who have a different mindset, like Chelsea or Inter Milan, because they have the intention of trying to stop us rather than playing a game that is more attractive for the spectators to enjoy.
I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I'm more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy.
I used to serve tea at a shop to support my football training
Whether it's a friendly match, or for points, or a final, or any game - I play the same. I'm always trying to be my best, first for my team, for myself, for the fans, and to try and win.