Lionel Messi has played down talk of being the greatest player of all time after picking up his record-breaking seventh Ballon d’Or
The Argentinean made history by becoming the first person to win the award for a seventh time, beating Robert Lewandowski into second place, but insists that he has never considered himself to be the best in the world.
Following the award ceremony, many were critical of the 34-year-old’s success. His arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to support posts on social media claiming that Messi did not deserve his most recent award.
Speaking on being regarded as the greatest player of all time, Messi played down his own need to be recognised as one of the best in the world, insisting it is not something he has ever even dreamed about.
‘I never said, thought, or even tried to come to terms with this idea [of being the greatest],’ he said in an interview with France Football.
‘For me, just being able to be considered or cited as one of the best players in the world is more than enough. It is something that I would never have dared to imagine or dream of.
‘But… I don’t know how to put it so that it’s not misinterpreted. It’s not that I’m not interested in it, but, let’s say that I don’t not give much importance to all that.
‘It doesn’t change anything for me to be the best or not. And I never tried to be either.’
