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World Soccer: What’s your first football memory?
Lionel Messi: My first memories are from when I was very little, maybe three or four years old playing in my neighbourhood at home. I can picture myself with the ball at my feet from a very young age.
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Looking back on your first weeks and months at Barcelona, were they happy times or bad times?
Both. I was happy to be living in Barcelona and experiencing all those new things. On the other hand, it was hard to be so far away from people. I had to start again, new team-mates, new friends. I also couldn’t play at first because of injury and because there were problems with the paperwork. That start was hard.
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Who were your idols?
I always admired Pablo Aimar; he came from River and I followed him a lot.
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Did you have problems with people because you were small?
No, I never had any problems with my height. I was always the smallest kid, at school and in my teams.
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Is your playing style a result of your education at Barcelona?
My style of play has always been the same. From very young I just played this way. What is certainly true is that I learnt a lot in the youth system. The way we worked here was different. There was a lot of contact with the ball. I came from Argentina where we didn’t do anything like that.
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When you played for Barcelona in the first team for the first time, in the pre-season Joan Gamper Trophy, Fabio Capello described you as “a little devil”…
It was incredible to hear that he had said that. He’s a coach who has won so much and it was very nice that he should say that about me.
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Why do you think Deco and Ronaldinho took you under their wing?
I don’t know. Right from the start I was lucky enough to have them by my side. I will be grateful to them for my whole life.
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You’re very careful about your diet now. Is there anything you miss eating?
There’s been a lot said about my diet but the change wasn’t as great as people made out. I eat the same as I used to, although there are some things that I now eat that I didn’t then, like fish.
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You set-up a lot of goals these days, as well as scoring them. Has your game changed? Were you more individualistic before?
I have never considered myself greedy, even if some people thought I was. I have grown as a player and learnt from those people who tried to help me improve.
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How do you live with the pressure of your position, with the fame and the constant eulogies? Are you self-critical?
Yes, very. I’m more critical with myself than anyone else is. I know when I have done well and when I have done badly. I don’t need anyone to tell me.
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Beyond the footballing aspects of your game, do you work physically? Do you spend a lot of time in the gym?
I work on my weak points to try to prevent injuries and to always be at my best. I look after myself, but it’s not like I spend my whole life in the gym. I’m not a fan.
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What can you learn from your team-mates? Do any of them have skills you envy? Xavi, for example…
He’s a great player. He never loses the ball, he has great vision and reads the game, he controls the rhythm and pace..
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It’s said that when you lose a game, even just in training, the best thing to do is not even to try to talk to you. Are you really such a bad loser?
The same as anyone in the dressing room. When you lose you get wound up and that’s a good thing because we all want to win, even in training. That means that our hunger for success doesn’t drop.
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Your next challenge will be the World Cup in Brazil…
Yes. Winning a World Cup is the ultimate prize and in Brazil it would be even greater.
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Pele, Diego Maradona, people are saying you may even be the best player of all time…
I try to improve every day. If people compare me to players like that, players who were greats and are still talked about today after they have retired, then that’s lovely. But I don’t think about that. I think about improving all the time and at the end of my career I’ll think about what I did. Then let people judge.
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You have just become a father for the first time. What if your son, Thiago, becomes a River Plate fan or a Rosario Central fan?
I don’t think that’s going to happen.
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Would you want him to become a footballer?
I want him to be what he wants to be. When he grows up he’ll get a feel for what he wants to do. I’ll be happy with that and so will his mum.
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