Sports
Messi hints at retirement from international football
Argentina and Barcelona superstar, Lionel Messi has hinted he may retire from international football after this summer’s World Cup, saying the 2018 tournament may be his last chance to win the title.
In an incredible career in which the 30-year old has won virtually every title including five Ballon d’Or gongs, a senior FIFA World Cup title is the only chink in his shining armour.
Messi is set to play in his fourth World Cup finals but has been part of a side which lost in Rio de Janeiro four years ago and two subsequent Copa America showpieces.
“It’s true that we believe this squad will be playing at our last major tournament together,” Messi told La Cornisa in his native country.
Read Also: Messi scores as Barcelona beat Bilbao to maintain unbeaten run
“We have reached three finals but have not won any and obviously the future depends on the results and the feeling of the squad, but it’s what we sense.
“There have been many things said about us and many questions asked, and if we do not win this summer then more players will be asked to leave.
“It is nice to see people wishing me and the team a great World Cup, and so many want to see me win the trophy.”
Argentina are considered favourites in a World Cup preliminary group which has Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria in Group D.
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...