Five times Lionel Messi proved that he is human

#5 The interview addressing his critics

Messi lashed out at his critics after his side’s exit

Messi polarises opinion – he is loved and hated in equal measure by football fans around the world. For every person that idolises the 29-year-old, there are two that criticise him for his performances on the international stage.

In an interview following Argentina’s loss in the Copa final, Messi addressed all his critics, lashing out at them for not recognising the work the team put in to make it to two consecutive finals. “It was bad. We got to the final of the World Cup and the Copa America and it was as if we didn’t do anything. We are still hearing these criticisms, people killing us. **** off, we got to the World Cup final and the Copa. We didn’t win them but we didn’t lose in the quarter-finals,” is allegedly what he said.

While it is difficult to know if those are his exact words, it is widely agreed that we saw a different man in the interview. Maybe it was pressure, which finally got to Messi, leading him to make the harsh statement that he did. While it is natural for anyone to have a breakdown after so much criticism, one would expect that at least the ‘God’ of football would be able to keep his calm whatever the situation.

All these incidents are proof of the fact that while seemingly perfect, even Messi has his flaws. No doubt, he is probably one of the best footballers to ever play the sport, but even he is just human.