Lionel Messi has dropped some titbits about his privacy as a player amid the current rift between Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United.
The legendary Argentine international dropped insights on his challenges as a football player to stay off media spotlights and safeguard his privacy.
Lionel Messi is a legendary football star whose legacy, especially at Barcelona, cannot be eroded.
His magical left leg, speed, creativity in the midfield, and great dribbling skills separate him from other players as a rare talent.
Messi has bulldozed football records in the number of goals scored and assists delivered in competitions and the number of trophies and individual awards won.
Lionel Messi is the La Liga all-time top scorer with a total of 474 goals. He also has the highest number of assists in football history – 345.
In his spell in La Liga, Lionel Messi holds the record for the highest number of Supercopa de Espana trophies won by a player – 14.
Messi has recorded an astonishing 785 goals for club and country and is the only player in football history to win six European Golden Shoes.
In 2021, Lionel Messi won his record seventh Ballon d’Or award – the most ever won by any player throughout football history.
One would safely say that a footballer of Messi’s pedigree cannot escape media spotlights which paves way to fame.
While establishing himself as one of the greatest footballers in history and turning a cynosure of media spotlights, Messi has revealed his struggles to keep his privacy and escape the prying eyes of the media.
Argentine international said he “doesn’t like being the center of attention” – something most pundits believed long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo has sought and yearned for following his Piers Morgan interview.
The PSG forward added he wished he wasn’t famous since the Messi he has become has not afforded him a modicum of private space.
He, however, added he has gotten used to the enormous media attention and coverage.
“Being Messi has its negative side, I sometimes wish I wasn’t famous,” Messi
told Universo Valdano.
“I don’t like being the center of attention or feeling that people are looking at me. But I’ve gotten used to it.”
Messi’s statement came just days when Ronaldo granted a controversial interview with Piers Morgan that took the media by storm.
Ronaldo blasted literally everybody that has purportedly offended him, including his closest former teammates at Old Trafford, Rooney.
He slammed Man United manager Erik Ten Hag for disrespecting him, including the Glazers, for poor handling of the Premier League club since he was in his early career years.
Some critics have linked Ronaldo’s gesture to a daring attempt to garner attention by painting a grotesque of the Manchester club following his dwindling fortunes at the club.
This literally contradicts Lionel Messi’s statement of relishing more private moments off the spotlights of the media.
Messi and Ronaldo will lead their respective national teams to the World Cup in Qatar – which starts on Sunday.
This might be their last World Cup, and the world will look forward to what they will bring to the fore in their final biggest tournament before bowing out of the game.
