Lionel Messi

"It doesn't matter if I am better than Cristiano Ronaldo, all that matters is that Barcelona are better than Madrid."

"Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer) was my hero. He was the best forward I've ever seen. He was so fast that he could score a goal from nothing and he struck the ball better than anyone I've seen."

"Being a dad changes everything for the better and I’m really enjoying it."

"Barcelona gave me everything, they took a chance on me when nobody else would. I never have any desire to play for anybody else, I will be here for as long as they want me."

"[Becoming a father] has changed everything. He [Thiago] comes first then everything else. It has also changed the way I see a match. Before if I lost or did something wrong I didn't talk to anyone for three or four days, until it passed. Now, I come home after a game, I see my son and everything is alright."

"I love to see T-shirts or flags with Che Guevara, Diego [Maradona] and Argentina anywhere in the world. It gives me a beautiful feeling."

"I will never go to trial against Barça because it is the club that I love, which has given me everything since I arrived here. It's the club of my life, I made my life here. Messi interview with Goal, announced he remains at Barca - NAIJANEWS247 September 4, 2020."

"I never set out to be the best player in history. I think I'm just another footballer. On the pitch we are all the same and when the game starts I always try to improve myself. My intention is that when I retire, I will be remembered for being a good person."

"I knew that at some point God was going to give it to me and I don't know why, but I felt it was going to be like this. Once again he made me very happy."

"In football as in watchmaking, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigour and precision""

"You have to keep working hard and playing well because people will start to forget what you have done before if you don’t""

"When you lose, you get up, you make mistakes and you learn. And then you become a better player""

"The day you think there is no improvement to be made, is a sad one""

"I’m never satisfied. I always push my limits and try to get better every day""

"Every year I try to grow as a player and not get stuck in a rut. I try to improve my game in every way possible. But that trait is not something I've worked on, it's part of me""

"You cannot allow your desire to be a winner to be diminished by achieving success before and I believe there is room for improvement in every sportsman""

"I always try to improve and score more goals. I want to be the best.""

"I always want more. Whether it’s a goal, or winning a game, I always want to improve.""

"My ambition is always to get better and better""

"For my part, I try to do my bit to make people's lives more bearable, in particular children across the globe who are having problems""

"There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a happy and smiling child. I always help in any way I can, even if it’s just by signing an autograph. A child’s smile is worth more than all the money in the world""

"Sometimes you have to accept you can't win all the time""

"I never think about the play or visualize anything. I do what comes to me at that moment. Instinct. It has always been that way""

"There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game""

"The best decisions aren’t made with your mind, but with your instinct""

"Allow yourselves to dream and then chase after those dreams. That will always require effort and sacrifice, but be persistent!”"

"Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn't thrill me or make me play better because there are benefits to being wealthy. I'm just happy with a ball at my feet. My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn't paid to be a professional footballer I would willingly play for nothing.""

"I always thought I wanted to play professionally, and I always knew that to do that I’d have to make a lot of sacrifices."

"I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people.""

"Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream""

"You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it""

"I have fun like a child in the street. When the day comes when I'm not enjoying it, I will leave football""

"You can overcome anything, if and only if you love something enough""

"I've always really just liked football, and I've always devoted a lot of time to it. When I was a kid, my friends would call me to go out with them, but I would stay home because I had practice the next day""

"I start early, and I stay late, day after day, year after year, it took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success""

"I always thought that if you want to be the best, you have to work harder than everyone else""

"I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I'm more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy""

"I'm lucky to be part of a team who help to make me look good, and they deserve as much of the credit for my success as I do for the hard work we have all put in on the training ground""

"In the semi-final Messi showed he's the top man. He is only 20 as well, imagine how good he will be in the next 10 years. I'd love to play alongside him."

"He is from another planet. He is the main point of reference and the key man in the whole Barça team."

"I'm not sure he is human."

"To me, Messi is the greatest player in the world right now. He has got a fantastic vision of the game, and what he can do technically - it's just crazy. The things he can do with the ball - and at pace and top speed - is just amazing. What decides it for me is not his many goals, although his goal account is impressive, but the thing is that he can do so much for his team. What counts is the total amount of his many, many qualities. He is just the greatest."

"Messi is the best and cannot be compared to anyone. Messi cannot be compared to anything."

"When you face him you have to make decisions in an instant. When he approaches you, you have to make the sign of the cross and pray that everything will be alright."

"I’ve always said Messi is the best player in the world."

"Although he may not be human, it's good that Messi still thinks he is."

"Messi is God, as a person and even more as a player."

"People often say to me they saw Pele and Maradona play. In the future, I will be able to say I saw Messi play."

"There is no doubt, you're from another galaxy. Thanks Leo."

"Diego is Diego and for me he is the greatest player of all time. Even after a million years I am not even going to be close to Maradona. I have no intention of comparing myself with Maradona - I want to make my own history for something I have achieved."