MADRID, 4 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Paris Saint-Germain player Lionel Messi said he is not worried about whether he is considered “the best in the world” after receiving the seventh ‘Ballon d’Or’ of his career this week, in addition to rejecting any comparison with the late Diego Armando Maradona.
“I do not care if I am the best in the world or not. Being considered among the greatest in history is already more than enough,” Messi said in statements to ‘France Football’. “I never said that I am the best in history nor do I try to get that idea,” added the Argentine, who “never would have imagined” winning seven Ballons d’Or.
In this sense, Messi said something habitual in his way of being. “It is something that does not interest me, it does not change anything to be considered the best or not. And I never wanted to be,” added the brand new PSG footballer, who never forgets his origins before succeeding in the world of football. “I come from a working class family, I grew up with these values.”
Asked about the eternal comparison with Maradona, the exculé was resounding. “No. Honestly, I have never compared myself to Diego, absolutely never. I never paid attention to those comparisons,” said Messi, who acknowledged that “some criticism” “bothered him” in the past. “I had a bad time in the national team, really, but not for these reasons.”
“I often get things that annoy me from criticism, but they stay in the locker room. They should stay there, in private. It is the intimacy that makes the group strong, in addition to the fact that we can get pissed off and say to our faces the things that can improve. This can happen to me or to other players “, added the ’10’.
Precisely Messi, who wears number 30 at PSG, explained the reasons for having changed the number. “Neymar offered it to me. It was an extraordinary gesture for wanting to give me that number even though it was his and it seemed fair that he should keep it. I kept 30, which I also like,” he concluded.