"At the time, they were very harsh and critical" - PSG superstar Lionel Messi hits back at journalists for 'mistreating' ex-Argentina attacker

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) superstar Lionel Messi has expressed his sympathy for former Argentina teammate Gonzalo Higuain, who recently announced his retirement from football.

Higuain has had a fruitful career as a footballer, playing for top European clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea and Juventus. He made 75 appearances for Argentina before retiring from the national team in 2019.

The Inter Miami centre-forward also announced his retirement from club football earlier this month. He revealed that he will be hanging up his boots at the end of the ongoing Major League Soccer (MLS) season.

Lionel Messi has now admitted that he is sad to see Higuain put an end to his 'spectacular' career. The PSG superstar explained that Pipita's feats are difficult to achieve. He told DirecTV Sports [via Infobae]:

“The Pipa thing was terrible because he had a spectacular career. What he did was very difficult because he played in the best teams in the world, always performing, scoring goals, and becoming champion. He also made his mark in Copa America and in the World Cup."

Higuain has often been the subject of severe criticism and abuse throughout his career as a footballer. The striker slammed football's toxic social media culture upon announcing his retirement earlier this month. He said:

“There’s kind of toxic feeling around football on social media. You can’t imagine the damage that comments on social networks do. I was really suffering, my family helped me. So, people should think before attacking on social media - it’s really serious topic.”

Lionel Messi corroborated those statements by insisting that Higuain has often been treated harshly. The PSG forward went on to claim that even a section of journalists are guilty of the same. He added:

“I think after winning Copa America, people recognized him more. But at that time they were very harsh, very critical, and we had reached the World Cup final [in 2014] and two Copa America finals [in 2015 and 2016], which is no small thing, it is very difficult."

"He was mistreated by a sector of journalists, people consume that and take it to the fields afterwards."

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Higuain played 61 matches with PSG superstar Lionel Messi

Higuain shared the pitch with Lionel Messi on 61 occasions for the Argentinean national team. The two even combined to find the back of the net 16 times for the South American country.

The PSG superstar will notably be without Higuain for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. At 35 years of age, it will not be long before Messi decides to hang up his boots as well.