Barcelona club forward Lionel Messi arrived at his natal Argentina to join his country's national team for the 2014 Brazil World Cup, with a clear intention to switch gears and focus on preparing for the World Cup, after a meager season in Europe.
Stopping in the city of Buenos Aires, before travelling to Rosario, from where he's from, "Pulga" said that meeting with his teammates will help him focus on the important role he will play as a forward for Argentina's team, forgetting his irregular campaign with Barcelona and focusing exclusively on reaching the final of FIFA's top tournament and fight to reach the title of World Champion.
"Now I have to think about the national team and change my chip. It used to be the other way around, things didn't work out in the national team, went to Barcelona and played well there (...) I hope this time its the other way around," said Messi, surrounded by journalists at the Buenos Aires airport. "It wasn't my best year. I would have liked to finish it in another manner, but it was the entire team, not just one individual, the entire team went down," added the Argentinian star, reported Reuters.
During his stay in Argentina, before moving on to Brazil, Messi will spend some time with his family and prepare himself emotionally and physically, with the support of his people, to give his best for the World Cup.
"I'm happy to be here again in Argentina, thinking about what's coming in the World Cup, enjoying my family, my people and getting there on the 26th to give it my best," he said.
The soccer star acknowledged that the team gathered by Alejandro Sabella is a good one, with which he will seek the cup.
"We have a great team, everything looks good. I hope we can complete our objective, because we really want to. I hope we can make it," he expressed.
Messi and the other 30 summoned players for the premilinary list for the Argentinian team are meeting on May 26 on the sports field owned by the local federation in Ezeiza, 40 km west of Buenos Aires.
Argentina is a part of the F Group in the World Cup and will play its first three matches in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre against Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria.
The first match of the Argentinian team will take place on Sunday, June 15 at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro against Bosnia.
Argentina, two times world champion (1978, 1986) will play its sixteenth World Cup in Brazil and Lionel Messi seeks to become the top player in Argentinian history by winning the cup.
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