“I don’t think I will ever play in Europe again, but I will live in Barcelona again”
MADRID, 4 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Argentine striker Leo Messi, winner of the 2023 Ballon d’Or, has assured that both the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and he deserve “a lot of credit” for having fought “a good battle at a sporting level” for so many years, and he believes that from 2024 it will begin. “a new era” that will be seen “from the outside.”
“It was a very good battle on a sporting level. We fed each other with this rivalry, because we are both great competitors. Cristiano also wanted to win everything. It was a very pleasant moment for both of us and for everyone who loves football. I think we deserve a lot of credit for having been able to stay at the top for so long. It is extremely difficult to stay at the top for ten or fifteen years,” he said in an interview with France Football.
In this sense, he stated that the Ballon d’Or is “a great reward for everything it means”, but he stressed that what is important are “the collective awards”. “I had the chance to win all possible titles in Barcelona, then with Argentina, and that is the most important thing for me,” she stressed. “These eight Ballon d’Ors reflect my mentality and my motivation, this desire to want to improve myself day after day. I always said that I loved to win and that I was allergic to losing,” he added.
In addition, he confessed who he sees winning the award in the future. “There could be a very good battle in the coming years, with players like Haaland, Mbappé, Vinícius… Many young people will fight for the next Ballon d’Or. I am also thinking of -Lamine- Yamal, who is still very young but who is already playing at Barça and it is decisive. Other players will appear, as happens all the time. It will be a new era that I will observe with pleasure, from the outside,” he said.
He also spoke about the season of the Norwegian Erling Haaland and the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, who accompanied him on the Ballon d’Or podium this year. “Haaland had an incredible season. He scored a lot of goals, won the Champions League and won the treble with Manchester City. I’m sure he will be one of the players who will regularly be candidates for the Ballon d’Or in the coming years. I wouldn’t be surprised. to win it very soon,” he said. “And Kylian the same: he had a very good season, with a spectacular World Cup, he almost ruined the final for us with his goals. He is one of the footballers who can win the award every year, because he is one of the best players in the world,” continuous.
In another vein, the Argentine attacker recounted his departure from Paris Saint-Germain and his signing for Inter Miami. “I thought about what was best at that moment for my family and me. The fact of having been world champion and having achieved all the goals I had set for myself during my career allowed me to think beyond the sporting aspect, to also think about the well-being of my entire family, to benefit from another point of view. It was a decision we made together,” he revealed.
He also confessed that returning to FC Barcelona was a possibility. “I could have returned to Barça, but it couldn’t be. My first idea was always to return home, to be able to play in Barcelona again and retire there as I had always dreamed of. But it wasn’t possible. So we made the decision to come to Miami,” He indicated, denying the possibility of joining the Barça team in the winter market after his team failed to reach the ‘Playoffs’. “No, not at all,” he said categorically.
“I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER PLAY IN EUROPE AGAIN”
On the other hand, he considers that he has definitively turned the page on European football. “Yes, I think so. Thank God I was lucky enough to have an extraordinary career, I won everything I dreamed of in Europe, where I played for many years. Now that I have taken a step by coming to the United States, I don’t think I will go back to never play in Europe. I will miss playing the Champions League or LaLiga for the rest of my life, games with a special flavor. But I enjoyed it as much as I could, so I don’t have any frustration,” he revealed.
However, he will return to Barcelona once his football career is over. “In principle we will live in Barcelona again. It is our home, where we have our routines, our friends, both for my wife and for my children and for me. But I have no idea what I will do. I haven’t thought about it yet and I don’t want to do it. I want to enjoy my last years as a footballer, doing what I have always liked since I was little. And when I hang up my boots, I will find my new path. Coach? I don’t think so, but it will have something to do with football because it is all my life,” he said.
Messi also assured that he feels “good” physically. “I don’t think about the future, I advance day by day. I feel good physically. I’m going to have a few months of vacation, this has never happened to me in my career, being stopped for so long. I will return to training in January to get in shape during the preseason to achieve the objectives we have here at the club, but also to prepare for the Copa América. I don’t know how much longer I will play. I want to continue until I feel like I can’t take it anymore,” he said.
Thus, he does not want to think about whether he will be able to defend Argentina’s world champion title in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. “There is a lot of time left. Although it passes quickly, there are still a few years until the World Cup and I don’t want to look so away. It’s not about being there just to be there, but about feeling good and being able to contribute things to the group. Knowing how old I will be then (39), it seems difficult to me, but we’ll see how I feel physically,” he said.
In another order of things, he spoke about how he sees Xavi’s Barça. “I follow them, I watch the games, of course, like when I played in Paris. It seems to me that the team has evolved well since I arrived. The young people have an excellent level. There is a great team that has the opportunity to fight in all areas.” fronts this year,” he said.
Remembering the World Cup final, which he considers to be his “best game” with the Albiceleste, Messi confessed that it “never” crossed his mind that they were going to lose the game, not even when Kylian Mbappé equalized to force extra time. “I was convinced that we were going to be world champions no matter what. This draw was a hard blow, but we had already experienced the same scenario against Holland and, instead of collapsing, the team once again played a very good extra time,” he explained.
Finally, he recalled what he thought when Gonzalo Montiel scored the decisive penalty. “A thousand things went through my head… It’s hard to explain what you feel at that moment. I fought for this dream all my life,” he said. “It was mine, but also my family, my friends and all of Argentina. I said to myself ‘it’s okay, I won everything’. When I saw the cup on stage I couldn’t believe it was ours, that we were champions. in the world. It was the first time I had the opportunity to touch her and I instantly wanted to kiss her. I wanted to enjoy every second of that moment,” he concluded.
2023-11-04 12:21:09
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