Barcelona's Argentinian striker Lionel Messi told a group of children with disabilities that "hard work and sacrifice" took him to where he is today, rather than a natural talent to play soccer during a meet and greet session Tuesday in Bangkok. The event was part of Barcelona's pre-season tour, which has seen the team travel through various countries including Israel and the United States.
During the event, which was organized by UNICEF, the four-time Golden Ball award winner revealed that there were no easy ways to success and that hard work is the key to accomplish anything important in life. "You must fight to reach a dream, you have to sacrifice and work hard for it," the 26-year-old player told the audience. "Training is very important. Now, we're not in any competition so we practice a lot. When the season starts, we have many games, so we train only one or two hours every day," Messi added.
The Argentinian striker has had an outstanding career in Barcelona, where he has led the team to win six Spanish league titles, three European Champions League titles, while being regarded as the best player of all time in the institution, according to some experts.
"The most important thing is to enjoy the experience," Messi, who is also focused at winning the Brazil 2014 World Cup with Argentina, told the audience.
Barcelona will travel to Kuala Lumpur to play with the Malaysia XI combined team on Saturday before heading back to Spain. The Spanish league begins its activities on August 17.
Messi and the rest of his Barcelona teammates also traveled to Israel and the West Bank during the weekend in an effort to bring Israelis and Palestinians closer together. The trip included a training session for young Palestinian children in Hebron and a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Barcelona striker has recently made headlines when pictures of him and an unidentified stripper were released by Argentinian gossip tabloids during a trip he made to Las Vegas. The photographs reportedly caused a crisis for the young soccer star and his wife. Messi has yet to address the issue, but according to Argentinian outlets the player is seeking legal action against the publications.