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Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has said that the club’s Argentinian forward Sergio Aguero is better than Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.
Talking ahead of England’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania, the 27-year-old said that while Messi was ‘absolutely awesome’, purely on the basis of observing his work ethic a lot more closely, Aguero was better than him.
"Messi is absolutely awesome, but I'm backing Sergio because he's my player. Just working with him on a daily basis and, from what I've seen this season, the best is probably Aguero. He just knows how to score,” he said.
Hart added that it was exciting to see the way Aguero trains prior to the game and said that he was an extremely natural player.
"We've got a good team, but in training he excites you most days and he's also got that ability on the day to do it. He's got the skill to turn a long clearance into a goal because he's got that ability to take it round five people and score. It's a great thing to have,” the goalkeeper said.
"Sergio is a very natural player and in a one-on-one situation there is nothing complicated about it. He takes that option to score,” he added.
When asked about his performance against Barcelona in the Champions League, Hart said that he had a good game personally and one should have faith in one’s abilities, when your up against strikers of the class of Messi and Suarez.
It was a good night for me personally, making saves against some of the best players in the world. You've got to believe in what you're doing, be strong in what you do and stuff like that [performance against Barca] isn't going to harm it.
"They [Messi and Suarez] are human beings and appreciate that I was making a lot of good saves,” he said.
Would like to listen clearly to what Messi had to say about me: Hart
The three-time Ballon d'Or winner had praised Hart for his performance on the night, but the Englishman wasn't very sure he actually meant it in the exact same way.
“I would like to see how he worded it. I'm pretty sure it wasn't quite as simple as that. He was obviously asked about the game and he has to make comments so I am not going to get too carried away with it. He is a fantastic player and for him to comment on me is great but I'm not getting carried away,” he said.
