Lionel Messi would greet his fellow team-mates with a kiss every morning ahead of training. Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, with a natural talent that is rarely matched. He broke through at Barcelona, going on to win a multitude of trophies with the La Liga side before joining PSG in 2021. After a difficult spell in the French capital, he moved to Inter Miami, where he has unsurprisingly established himself as one of the best players in the MLS. While he does have that natural talent, Messi is renowned as a tough taskmaster in training.
Although it does take some players time to get used to his traditions. Francisco Trincão played with Messi during the Argentine's final season at Barca, but was caught out by his greeting when he saw his team-mates each morning. “At first it was a bit strange, because culturally, in Argentina and Uruguay, they kiss a lot to greet each other and it was strange for Messi to greet me with a kiss every time I arrived at the academy," he told Revelo.
"Then I got used to it, but in the first few weeks it was difficult. On the pitch, Messi was very calm. He set an example more than he spoke to us, he helped us on the pitch, where we should go and what to do. "He would tell us something and we would accept it because what he said was true. Being 20 years old and having a club like Barça saying they want you, I don’t think anyone can say no. I would never have said no to Barcelona, but maturity comes with time.”.
Messi has reunited with some of his closest allies from Barca in Miami. Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets all now play for the David Beckham-owned side, while Javier Mascherano is now manager. The Miami squad returned for the start of pre-season training in January. And Mascherano, who replaced Tata Martino at the end of last season is looking forward to the new campaign. "We are happy with how they have returned from the holidays. We know that it is not easy to be so long standing, beyond that everyone can do their specific work. When you reincorporate and do the group work, they have returned very well from the holidays," he said.
"That has allowed us to demand a little more from the first day. So we are very happy. I'm very quiet. Obviously, I like to work with intensity in the training sessions. I like my teams to play with intensity and courage. "But we know what we are starting now and we need to be calm so we are happy with the guys. They are working a lot and they are working really well so we keep going forward.". Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
