By Joiner Martínez
Last Monday Lionel Messi won his eighth Ballon d’Or, writing his name on another page in football history.
After his historic achievement, Messi reflected on his new achievement, anticipated that it will surely be the last award of that type, reviewed the historic rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo and spoke about the players he sees as favorites in the future.
In a recent interview with L’Equipe, Messi highlighted: “Although before I said that it was never a priority for me to win a Ballon d’Or, much less now after having achieved everything in my career and being at another point in my life. . I think this is going to be my last Ballon d’Or and I am happy to have achieved everything I achieved and to be the player who has eight Ballon d’Ors.”
And he highlighted: “I think it was all my mentality, my desire to want to improve myself day by day, to always want to try to achieve more. I always said that I was a person who liked to win, I didn’t like to lose anything. I always tried to compete and do my best, to prepare and live practically for football because I enjoy it, because I like it, because it is what I dreamed of and what I wanted since I was little and I left everything in the career I had.
There he also remembered what the first Ballon d’Or he won was like, back in 2009, when he was just 22 years old: “The first one was a special joy for having managed to achieve that award. It was also different from everyone because it was not at a gala like the one they do now, but on a television program, which I went to in Paris with my brothers. There were not as many other players as happened later.”
Regarding his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo he stated: “It was always a battle in quotes. In terms of sports, it was very nice, we fed off each other because we are very competitive. He always wanted to win at everyone and in everything. It was a very nice time for us and for people who like football in general. I think what we did for so long has a lot of merit. The easy thing is to get there, but the difficult thing is to stay. We stayed at the top for practically 10-15 years. It was something very difficult to sustain. It was spectacular and I have fond memories, also for everyone who enjoys football.”
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