Messi: My intention is to play with Barça and Argentina for many years
Lionel Messi has won almost everything there is to achieve in football at the age of 29.
Eight Primera Division titles, four Copa del Rey titles, four Champions League titles, four Club World Cups, five Ballon d'Ors - the list goes on.
Nobody has been able to decipher his relationship with the ball, how he seemingly does the unthinkable game after game. Even less silence occurs when you consider just what goes on inside the Barça striker's head - most of the time it happens through genius alone.
And it's that genius that has allowed the boy from Rosario his rightful place amongst the legends of the sport: Diego Maradona, Pele and Johan Cruyff to name a few.
WORD OF MESSI
'La Pulga' can often be considered as something out of this world, extraordinary. And that point is emphasised when you consider he's now the top goalscorer for his club (456) and country (55), with no signs of slowing down just yet.
"I feel very good physically and mentally," Messi told SPORT, "I'm still having so much fun whenever I go out on the pitch."
Having moved to Catalonia at 13-years-old and experiencing growth problems along the way, Messi has gone on to achieve unprecedented success at the club and catapulted the Blaugrana into a status of being one of the best teams in history.
"I've always said that I'm happy in Barcelona and while the club and the people want me, I'll be happy to help them gain new challenges," he continued.
"If injuries respect me and I still have some luck, my intention is to play [for Barça and Argentina] for many more years."
Nobody can imagine the end of Barça's no.10 and with the Copa America final on Sunday presenting another chance for his first major trophy with the Albiceleste, who's to say Messi won't pull his team over the last hurdle and banish the thoughts, for now, of the ending to what has been such an illustrious career.
As his team-mate Javier Mascherano puts it best: "While perhaps not human, it's good that Messi still thinks he is."
