{"id":109922,"date":"2026-02-24T21:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/messi-confesses-he-rejected-spain-and-regrets-not-mastering-english\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T21:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:33:20","slug":"messi-confesses-he-rejected-spain-and-regrets-not-mastering-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/nationals\/messi-confesses-he-rejected-spain-and-regrets-not-mastering-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi confesses: He rejected Spain and regrets not mastering English"},"content":{"rendered":"

Messi Reveals Unpublished Details of His Career and His Love for Argentina<\/h2>\n\nInter Miami CF star Lionel Messi has shared surprising revelations about his football career, including a period when he received proposals to represent Spain.\n\n\n

“At some point, something came to me from Spain. I was already playing for Barcelona and they kind of hinted at it. It was normal at that time. I went to Barcelona very young, I did a large part of the youth system there and there was the possibility. It could have happened, but my desire was always Argentina,” he expressed.<\/p>Lionel Messi<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nIn an interview on the “Miro de Atr\u00e1s” podcast, the Argentinian captain explained that, due to his training in Barcelona’s youth system, there was a possibility of playing for Spain.\n\nMessi, who trained in the lower categories of Barcelona from a young age, revealed that he received hints to play with the Spanish national team. However, his desire was always to defend the Argentina shirt.\n\n\n

Regret and Personal Reflections<\/h2>\n\n\nIn addition to his experiences in the sports field, Messi also shared personal reflections. He confessed his regret for not having studied English during his childhood.\n\n\n

\u201cI regret many things. I tell my children. Having a good education, not having learned English as a child. I’ve had time to study it and I regret it very much. Sometimes you’re with personalities and not being able to hold a conversation makes you feel ignorant,\u201d he commented.<\/p>Lionel Messi<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nMessi highlighted the importance of education and regretted not having learned English from a young age, acknowledging the limitations this has created for him in certain situations.\n\n\n

Remembering Maradona and the Qatar World Cup<\/h2>\n\n\nThe world champion also remembered Diego Maradona, describing him as a striking figure. Messi shared the moment he met Maradona after winning the 2005 U-20 World Cup.\n\nFurthermore, Messi recalled the crucial match against Mexico in the 2022 World Cup, highlighting its importance for the success of the tournament.\n\n\n

“That match was decisive. We were playing for a lot. We had come from many matches without losing and we couldn’t let the match against Saudi Arabia change us. We had to be ourselves again,” he affirmed.<\/p>Lionel Messi<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nMessi’s statements have generated great interest, revealing little-known details of his career and his personal reflections.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Messi Reveals Unpublished Details of His Career and His Love for Argentina Inter Miami CF star Lionel Messi has shared surprising revelations about his football career, including a period when he received proposals to represent Spain. “At some point, something came to me from Spain. I was already playing for Barcelona and they kind of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[997],"tags":[893,156,256,3030],"class_list":{"0":"post-109922","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nationals","8":"tag-argentina","9":"tag-barcelona","10":"tag-lionel-messi","11":"tag-spain"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}