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He spoke about dad Jorge, new-born son Thiago, missing cancer-stricken Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova, and his tears for Argentina.
MESSI ON HIMSELF: “I’m my No. 1 critic. Whether I play well or badly. I am hot-headed. I get angry because I never want to lose.
“I knew I didn’t play well for Argentina but I wasn’t the only one. The whole team was not performing.
“People and the media wanted me to go out and win games on my own but this has never happened.
“I knew I was not giving my best but I was the first to want to play well.”
ON DAD JORGE: “For my old man I never play well. Since I was a little kid I was scoring four goals and he still had something to criticise.
“And this made me want to do better in the next game so he wouldn’t tell me anything or so he would say ‘you played well’. He rarely did.”
ON SON THIAGO: They told me having a son is the most beautiful thing but the truth is until you have one you do not realise what it means.
“I was never one to talk about my personal life. But I do it all. I change him, I wash him, I feed him. I like it very much.”
ON BARCELONA: “Teams that sit back and defend are complicated and have knocked us out. Chelsea, the Inter of Jose Mourinho. Milan and Real Madrid also played us in the same way.
“Sometimes we pay a heavy price for not knowing how to play in a different way.”
ON VILANOVA: “Players know each other and can play from memory but you need the boss for millions of details.
“We respect Jordi Roura, he’s trying to win everything like us but not having Tito was a tough blow. Tito’s very intelligent and knows football. He’s different to Pep Guardiola and has his own way of transmitting his message.”
ON BEST PAL SERGIO ‘KUN’ AGUERO: “Kun makes me laugh. We’ve been friends since we were Under-14s. We are very different. He is wound up all day and I am calmer.
ON CRYING FOR ARGENTINA: “I cried many times. In the 2006 World Cup Argentina had played so well and lost to Germany on penalties. In 2010 obviously the same thing happened. Yes I cried but the whole team cried.”
ON SHUNNING SPORTS PSYCHOLOGISTS: “I’ve never seen one. I don’t want to talk about my stuff.”
ON HIS FUTURE: “I’d like to go back to Rosario and live.
“My son will definitely start school in Barcelona so I don’t know what will happen. In Barcelona I am spectacularly well. I have been there a long time, Barcelona is my home but I always have the desire to return.
ON BEING SUBBED: “I don’t like coming off the pitch. I want to end the match regardless of the score. Once I got angry, we were beating Valencia 4-0 and Pep subbed me. It was stupid on my part.
Online Reporter