Messi: "I'm not interested in records, I want to win trophies"

Barça's No. 10, Leo Messi is the cover star on the March edition of celebrated football monthly El Gráfico. The magazine run's a candid interview with the striker who talks of his past and present and his relationship with Cristiano.

Friendship with Neymar and Suárez: “In truth, we really do get along well, both on and off the field. We do our best to work for the collective of the team and this gives us all added confidence. Maybe being all South Americans is a motive that makes us feel closer although this does change when we pull on our respective national team shirts.”.

An improving relationship with Cristiano: “We're both professionals and defend the interest of our club sides. We're rivals on the pitch and that's the height of it. sometimes we win and on other occasions we lose. There has always been a huge mutual respect.”.

Playing with Argentina again: “There is outstanding business to be done with the Argentinean national team and this is something that drives me on”.

When do you foresee retirement?: “I'm not one to establish boundaries, neither in the short ore even in the long term. i hope to be able to carry on playing as long as my body allows me. When i feel I've reached that point when it's time to retire then II'll make the appropriate decision”.

You're close to overtaking Gabriel Batistuta as top scorer with the Argentina national team: “I'd rather win something with the national team to be honest. I'm not all that interested in records, i'd rather win trophies”.

Was losing in last year's Copa América final harder to stomach than losing in the last final of the 2014 World Cup?: “Whenever i lose with the national team I get annoyed and in this case even more as I genuinely feel that we should have won. In both the World cup and the Copa América we did enough to win both finals”.

Criticism: “I really don't worry about what certain sectors of the media have to say. The media are opinion makers and on occasion fanaticism blinds their journalistic objectivity”.

Would winning a World Cup see an end to the criticism in Argentina?: “People are fee to express themselves as they see fit and we all have to respect that”.