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What's the story?
Argentina and Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi, who will turn 32 on June 24th, revealed that there are two things he dreams of achieving before he hangs up his boots-win a major international trophy with Argentina and take the field again for his boyhood club Newell's Old Boys at the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa in Rosario.
In case you didn't know...
Barcelona and Argentina talisman Lionel Messi has won almost every trophy in football, an astonishing 10 La Liga titles, 4 Champions League titles, 3 FIFA Club World Cups, 1 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, 5 Ballon d'Ors and has wrapped up this season by winning an unprecedented 6th European Golden Shoe for being the top scorer amongst all of the European domestic leagues.
Lionel Messi has had a brilliant individual season for Barcelona in 2018-19, scoring an astonishing 51 goals in all competitions for the Blaugrana. In his first season as Barcelona captain, Messi inspired them to the club's eighth La Liga title in the past 11 seasons, but faltered in both the Champions League semifinals and the Copa del Rey final.
Having won the 2005 FIFA Youth Championships, the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World cup and the 2008 Summer Olympics Gold Medal, the 'Messiah', however, hasnt been able to inspire the senior team to a single major international title. Messi and Argentina have three major finals in recent years-the 2014 FIFA World Cup against Germany, the 2015 Copa America and the 2016 Copa America Centenario, both against Chile.
The heart of the matter
In an interview to Fox Argentina (via Mirror), Messi elaborated on the things he wants to achieve before retirement,
"I want to finish my career and win something with the national team or try as many times as possible, not to be left with people who did not want me or bad comments towards me."
The 5-time Ballon d'Or winner also expressed his love for his boyhood club Newell's Old Boys, where he joined as a 7-year-old in 1994.
"My dream was always to be a soccer player, to reach the First Division. "I was in Newell's, I was going to the pitch and my dream was to play in the stadium and live that. Life took me elsewhere, but my dream was always to be a professional player. Everything else that came exceeded everything. I still have to play in Newell's, but I do not know if it will happen."
What's next?
Argentina are drawn in Group B for the Copa America, along with Colombia, Paraguay and 2019 Asian Cup Champions Qatar. La Albiceleste's first match will be against James Rodriguez-led Colombia on 15th June. They take on Nicaragua in a preparatory friendly before the tournament on June 5.
