Messi-led Argentina national team to play in Kerala next year
World Cup-winning Argentinian football team led by iconic Lionel Messi will play in Kochi next year, Kerala State Sports Minister V Abdurahiman announced on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi, who on Thursday became the first player to score in the 15 consecutive seasons of the Champions League, has described that Barcelona as a city that has given him “everything” and insisted that he doesn’t want to leave the place.
“I always say that I don’t want to leave (Barcelona), I have no thoughts of moving,” Messi said in an interview with Argentina’s TyC Sports.
Notably, Messi has long expressed a desire to play for Rosario-based Newell’s Old Boys, where he played at youth level before moving to Catalonia with his family at age 13, reports Xinhua news agency.
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“I have the dream of being able to play in Newell’s in football Argentine, but I don’t know if it’s really going to happen, because I have a family that is ahead of my desire,” said the 32-year-old.
“It’s a reality, I dreamed it since I was little, but I have a family, I have three children, I live in a place that gave me everything and where I am calm and I can give my children a spectacular future.
“We think much more about that than in my desire of playing in Argentine soccer. I will try to convince the family, because today we have to convince the children too,” he added.
On Thursday, Messi scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League this season during an encounter with Slavia Prague, which the Catalonians won 2-1.
With the goal, Messi added the name of Slavia Prague to the list of clubs he has scored against in Europe’s premier club competition with the total now standing at 33, matching Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid great Raul.
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