Lionel Messi: 'I was asked to play for Spain'

Argentina international Lionel Messi reveals that he was asked to represent Spain during his early Barcelona career.

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 04 June 2014

Lionel Messi has revealed that he was asked to represent Spain during his early Barcelona career.

The former Ballon d'Or holder qualified for Spanish citizenship at an early age after moving to Barcelona in the year 2000.

However, the 26-year-old has insisted that he only ever wanted to represent the country of his birth, Argentina.

"I was asked informally if I wanted to play for Spain, but I always said that I wanted to play for my national team because I love Argentina and these are the only colours I want to wear," he says in new book Messi, The Patriot.

Messi has scored 37 times in 83 games for his national team.

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Premier League Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
C	Real Madrid	37	29	7	1	87	26	61	94
2	Barcelona	37	25	7	5	77	43	34	82
3	Girona Girona	37	24	6	7	78	46	32	78
4	Atletico Madrid Atletico	37	23	4	10	68	43	25	73
5	Athletic Bilbao	37	18	11	8	60	37	23	65
6	Real Sociedad	37	16	12	9	51	37	14	60
7	Real Betis Betis	37	14	14	9	48	45	3	56
8	Villarreal	37	14	10	13	64	64	0	52
9	Valencia	37	13	9	15	38	43	-5	48
10	Alaves Alaves	37	12	9	16	35	45	-10	45
11	Osasuna	37	12	8	17	44	55	-11	44
12	Getafe	37	10	13	14	41	52	-11	43
13	Sevilla	37	10	11	16	47	52	-5	41
14	Celta Vigo	37	10	10	17	44	55	-11	40
15	Las Palmas Las Palmas	37	10	9	18	32	46	-14	39
16	Rayo Vallecano	37	8	14	15	29	47	-18	38
17	Mallorca	37	7	16	14	31	43	-12	37
R	Cadiz Cadiz	37	6	15	16	25	49	-24	33
R	Granada	37	4	9	24	38	72	-34	21
R	Almeria	37	2	12	23	37	74	-37	18