Lionel Messi opens up about the bad time he had with the national team: "I went to Argentina and I was a weirdo"

Lionel Messi is currently experiencing one of the sweetest moments of his career: champion with Inter Miami and reigning World Cup winner with the Argentina national team . However, his career wearing the Albiceleste jersey has been full of ups and downs, dark moments where he was about to give up and step aside.

Recently in an interview on the streaming channel LUZU, the Argentine star shared how bad it was for him in the Argentina national team, when the results or his personal performance was not what was expected.

They insulted me, things went badly for me, the results didn't go our way. The ones who suffered the most were my family, because they were the ones who stayed in Argentina

Leo Messi remembers Argentina's poor results

Although he is now an absolute idol in Argentina, this was not always the case. Wearing the number 10 shirt, he also had to bear the responsibility of living up to what Maradona achieved in the past with the national team. And after a string of failures and lost finals, Messi experienced tense moments with the fans, which was diametrically different from his time at Barcelona , where he was already an absolute idol.

In Barcelona, I was spectacular. But I went to Argentina and I was a weirdo

Messi shares how his family suffered from criticism in the past

Likewise, the Argentine '10' pointed out that it was his family who suffered the most from the criticism for his performance in the national team, because he tried to stay away from social networks and analysis programs, however for his family it was inevitable to hear about them. In previous interviews, Messi had already talked about this by declaring " My son asks me 'why do they kill you in Argentina?' ", and today he touches on the subject again:

They ate up the programs, the criticism and many things I didn't know about because I didn't see them. But they were aware of everything, they suffered a lot. For me, the day-to-day made me think about what was next

Fortunately for Messi , those times are in the past and today very few in Argentina doubt that he is one of the best in history. He was an undisputed figure in winning the title at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and it seems likely that he will also be part of the final squad for the 2026 World Cup, where Argentina is one of the favorites to reach the final. With Inter Miami , he has also had an immediate effect by becoming the tournament's top scorer and assist leader, winning the first MLS Cup for the Herons.