The World Cup is approaching, and it will probably be Leo Messi’s last World Cup. One of the greatest footballers in history, if not the greatest, was interviewed tonight (between Monday and Tuesday) on Jorge Valdano’s program and spoke extensively about the national team, his time in Barcelona and also about his future.
Leo Messi Regarding the World Cup: “The World Cup caught me at a time when I learned to enjoy life a little differently, I enjoy everything more. We have a good team, I learned from the mistakes. We were criticized after the loss in the World Cup final in 2014 and would have been criticized if we had lost in 2021, but everything is fine now “.
“I always felt appreciated in Argentina, but there were people who asked me about everything I did. In the Copa America in 2011 we started badly and they killed us, I felt that the young teams missed me. I had a hard time with many great players at the beginning but I was always treated as one of them. That’s why I cried at the end Copa America”.
He later spoke about his coaches in the team: “There was a special time when Diego Maradona coached the team. We suffered in the World Cup, but I had fun with him except for the end. It was very important for him. Lionel Scaloni is a special person and prepares us great for games, he plays smart football.”
Messi Commented on his time at Barcelona: “Guardiola made us grow as a team. The feeling was that we were going to beat every opponent that came. If there’s one thing I regret, that I didn’t enjoy it more. We didn’t understand what we were doing. It was unique. He did a lot of damage to football, because it It looked so simple and easy that everyone wanted to copy it. Later on I met a lot of ‘Guardiolas’ around me, and then I realized what we were doing.”
“He is without a doubt the greatest coach I’ve ever had, he has something special, especially in seeing the game, preparing for it and conveying the message to the players. When he asked me to play as a fake nine it was amazing, he called me when I was sitting at home and told me not to be afraid of the role.”
“I argued with Luis Enrique and I regretted it. I always said what I thought, we had a good relationship. The Spanish national team plays his football.”
The Flea talked about the future of football: “It has changed, everything is more tactical and you are taught to play fast as a child. Football is becoming more complicated. In Barcelona you are given a ball and you stay with it from the beginning, I grew up with it since I can remember, I learned a lot on the streets even though I left at a young age” .
“I think I will be part of soccer but I don’t know what I will do, I don’t think I will become a coach. There are the same candidates in the World Cup as every year, the good teams are dangerous. Brazil, France and England are the favorites but anything can happen, we believe in big things.”