Messi uncovered
OPENING UP ... Lionel Messi
By ANTONY KASTRINAKIS
World Football Uncovered
Last Updated:
18th
March 2013
THIS is Lionel Messi raw.
The world’s greatest player gave an intimate interview on Argentinian TV this weekend.He spoke about dad Jorge, new-born son Thiago, missing cancer-stricken Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova, and his tears for Argentina.
MESSI ON HIMSELF: “I’m my No 1 critic. Whether I play well or badly. I am hot-headed. I get angry because I never want to lose.
“I knew I didn’t play well for Argentina but I wasn’t the only one. The whole team was not performing.
“People and the media wanted me to go out and win games on my own but this has never happened.
“I knew I was not giving my best but I was the first to want to play well.”
ON DAD JORGE: “For my old man I never play well. Since I was a little kid I was scoring four goals and he still had something to criticise.
“And this made me want to do better in the next game so he wouldn’t tell me anything or so he would say ‘you played well’. He rarely did.”
ON SON THIAGO: They told me having a son is the most beautiful thing but the truth is until you have one you do not realise what it means.
“I was never one to talk about my personal life. But I do it all. I change him, I wash him, I feed him. I like it very much.”
ON BARCELONA: “Teams that sit back and defend are complicated and have knocked us out. Chelsea, the Inter of Jose Mourinho. Milan and Real Madrid also played us in the same way.
“Sometimes we pay a heavy price for not knowing how to play in a different way.”
ON VILANOVA: “Players know each other and can play from memory but you need the boss for millions of details.
“We respect Jordi Roura, he’s trying to win everything like us but not having Tito was a tough blow. Tito’s very intelligent and knows football. He’s different to Pep Guardiola and has his own way of transmitting his message.”
BEIJING WHEN YER WINNING ... pals Messi and Aguero celebrate Olympic gold
ON CRYING FOR ARGENTINA: “I cried many times. In the 2006 World Cup Argentina had played so well and lost to Germany on penalties. In 2010 obviously the same thing happened. Yes I cried but the whole team cried.”
ON SHUNNING SPORTS PSYCHOLOGISTS: “I’ve never seen one. I don’t want to talk about my stuff.”
ON HIS FUTURE: “I’d like to go back to Rosario and live.
“My son will definitely start school in Barcelona so I don’t know what will happen. In Barcelona I am spectacularly well. I have been there a long time, Barcelona is my home but I always have the desire to return.
ON BEING SUBBED: “I don’t like coming off the pitch. I want to end the match regardless of the score. Once I got angry, we were beating Valencia 4-0 and Pep subbed me. It was stupid on my part.
Interview courtesy of TyC Sports TV
He’s a Nazi piece of work
JOKE'S ON HIM ... a laughing Katidis repeats the salute
Putting UEFA president Michel Platini to shame for his limp sanctions on racism the Greek Football Federation (EPO) acted swiftly and decisively.
Greece Under-21 midfielder Giorgos Katidis got a life ban from playing for his country after sparking national outrage with a Nazi salute after his winner in a relegation six-pointer with Veria.
EPO said: “The Nazi salute is a brutal provocation of public opinion, a grave insult of the victims of Nazi barbarism and a deep injury to the peaceful character of football.
“The Greek Football Federation condemns it absolutely and categorically. We will impose a life ban on Giorgos Katidis from all national teams.”
Katidis was Greece Under-19s skipper when Spain beat them in the European Championships final last year.
An EPO source said: “You cannot be captain of Greece and make a Nazi salute and expect to play for the national team again. Players are role-models.
“Kids saw what he did. This is not a disciplinary sanction but a decision of the Federation and there can be no appeal.”
In a TV interview Katidis repeated the salute, laughing it off. He admitted he imitated the salute of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn to “lift” the crowd who booed him in disgust.
He later insisted he did not know what the salute meant but will cop a five-match ban and is unlikely ever to play for AEK again.
They were founded by refugees of the 1922 Asia Minor massacre when millions of Greeks fled what is now the west coast of Turkey.
AEK indicated he will be suspended after a hearing tomorrow and a fans’ statement demanded he never plays for them again.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4846568/Lionel-Messi-in-the-raw.html#ixzz2Od1MMDHJ
