Lionel Messi: I never wanted to quit Argentina
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has broken his silence. After scoring the last goal in a 2-2 draw with Mexico he spoke to the media from his country for the first time since the Copa America final.
Messi was criticised harshly by the press and some fans and it was painful. "They received a lot of criticism and much of it in a bad way," said Messi. "We had two finals in a year, which is not easy," he told TyCSports.
Messi said the team was disappointed by their failure to win the Copa America in the summer. "Everything bad that happened to us was because we were convined that it was the moment, that we would be champions, for how we arrived, for the group and because we had a lot of faith. It was very hard for everyone."
Messi also wanted to make clear that he never wanted to quit international football, with some previously suggesting he would take a break. "While the coach wants, I will be here always, more after all the disappointment we have had to not win anything while I am in the national team.
"Now come more objectives and new opportunities. We have to keep fighting," he explained.
"The qualifiers are harder every time., We have to start well because we know how complicated it can be. We want to keep fighting like up to now. We reached two finals, it's not easy like I say, and we intend to keep fighting for everything. These have been 10 very positive days. Last night I think we did a lot of good things and we committed some errors, which we have to work on, but the important thing is what comes and it's hard."
