Lionel Messi would have been one of the best defenders in the world if he opted for a career at the back, Javier Mascherano has said. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, it was actually impossible to get past the Argentine forward in training, and he was very good during the one-vs-one trainings.
Mascherano added that Lionel is living proof that attackers also know how to defend.
His words, “If Messi were a defender, he would perhaps be one of the best defenders in the world. It is impossible to get past him. Sometimes, at Barcelona we played one on one and it was impossible to get past him.
We had no chance against him. Sometimes, attackers know how to defend. Leo defended very well. He was very fast and when you tried to dribble past him it was impossible.
In Barcelona we did a short tournament in a training session with three teams: five victories and you were the champion. He decided to end the training session early, so he scored five goals for the team to win and the training session ended.”
WOW.
Lionel Andrés Messi, also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes, and in 2020 he was named to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team.
Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 35 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles and the UEFA Champions League four times.
With his country, he won the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (eight), and most assists in La Liga (192) and the Copa América (17).
He also has the most international goals by a South American male (103). Messi has scored over 800 senior career goals for club and country, and has the most goals by a player for a single club (672).
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