Lionel Messi is a footballing legend, having won everything there is to win at club level with Barcelona. The superstar though has revealed that moving to Barcelona at a young age was not easy as he had to leave his home and make a fresh start. In an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated, the Argentine spoke on topics ranging from his early days at the Catalan club to his thoughts on the Copa America and his future in football.
When asked about his arrival at Barcelona as a 13-year-old, Messi said, "It was a difficult moment, a marvellous moment on the one hand because I was going to play with Barcelona, but difficult too because I left my home and starting from scratch isn't easy. I came to Barca with the dream of playing in the Primera, that was my aim, I thought about nothing but football.”
The 28-year-old had to move from his native Rosario, leaving his family, friends and everything he ever knew. Speaking about his childhood and early days back in Argentina, he said, "I always had a ball with me, from the time I got up to when I went to sleep, I remember when I was little having such a brilliant time on the pitch, playing on those pitches where my brothers, my whole family played. That was when I was around 5 or 6 years old. For me those are special days.”
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Messi reveals he’d like to return to Argentina
The mercurial Argentine has been regarded as one of the greatest to ever play the game, with pundits and experts naming him one of the two best players of this generation, Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo being the other.
When quizzed about what motivates him to keep performing day in day out at the highest level, he said, "Every time I walk out onto the pitch it's with the same excitement as the first time and I always want to get better. You can always grow and learn as a footballer and in life. The way I play has always been the same ever since I was small. What do I feel when I score a goal? It's a feeling of pure joy scoring a goal, I think it's a symptom of happiness.”
He has won a whole host of individual awards including the Ballon d’Or an unprecedented five times and Messi says even though he doesn’t give much importance to individual awards, it makes him incredibly happy to be crowned the ‘best in the world’.
When asked about his future and if he was going to retire at Barca, Messi said, "I grew up here, my life is here, Barcelona gave me everything I have, but one day I'd like to go back to Argentina, I didn't really get the chance to enjoy growing up in Rosario with my family.”
Argentina are favourites for the Copa America Centenario to be held in the USA this June having reached the final last year and Messi said its been too long since Argentina have won a trophy, re-iterating that they deserve to win.
Barcelona fans have rejoiced in another trophy-laden year for the club, winning the double of the La Liga and Copa del Rey. They can count themselves lucky to be present in one of the most dominant periods in their history, an era defined by ‘Leo Messi’.
