Messi: "Everything is the merit of Guardiola"

Barcelona player Lionel Messi gave an interview to Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo.



Tell us something about Barça. What is Guardiola adding to this squad?
Everything. What he transmits, what he knows, the attitude he has, the desire with which he is working with us, everything that is happening is his merit, the five cups are his merit. I admire Guardiola, I admire his ability to lift up a squad that was humiliated, a squad that was doing really bad. It's a unique coach.

And Maradona?
He's the idol of the Argentinian people. The only time I saw Maradona play was when I was a kid. My father and my uncle took me to the stadium of Newell's. I had already seen the goals of Diego so many times at home... In Argentina, when there's some gathering, people always end up watching the goals of Maradona against England. I don't remember almost nothing of that game at the stadium of Newell's, but now he's here, as national team coach, of a team in which I am the number '10'. He's a great motivator. If Diego talks, everyone is listening because we know we are hearing the voice of football.

Brazil-Argentina: what a game!
Yes, and at home. Of course we have the qualities needed to beat the Brazilians. The team is united, Rosario is involved with the team and we need to win because we want to be at the World Cup. The Brazilians also play good football, they can count on my friend Dani Alves who is a phenomenon. But this has to be our game.

Let's talk about another coach, José Mourinho.
(laughs) I never had problems with him. I keep on saying what I have always said. It seems a great coach, who makes his team play in a very disciplined way, a winner as he has shown with several teams. And he's a lucky guy because he can now count on a centre forward like Samu. The games against Inter will be entertaining. I really hope Samu will do great at Inter. We all want him to have a great time, a lot of us still have a great relationship with Samuel.

There's someone in this Barça who is irreplaceable?
We live as a team and we work as a team, but if there is one then maybe the captain, Carles Puyol. As a person, as a captain, how he helps the team in every moment. He has helped me a lot. And well, as a player I don't have to reveal anything, there's nobody like him, he's a '10'.


Read the first part of this interview here:
Messi: "I am great because of my team-mates"