Can't always rely on my speed: Messi says he may withdraw to midfield to prolong career

A couple of solo efforts from Lionel Messi at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 managed to win him the tournament’s best player award — but not the coveted trophy. That one, Germany took, with a 113th minute strike from Mario Gotze. Messi’s expression after the final whistle was a symbol of hurt — another four year wait began for him to finally seal his place next to the other Argentine great Diego Maradona. But for many, his exploits with Barcelona are enough to place him above any other football player on the planet. [caption id=“attachment_2274918” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Messi acknowledges that the game’s demands will eventually take a toll on his body. Getty[/caption] “Losing the World Cup final was a big, big blow. I wanted to win it for Argentines everywhere, for my country, and I was very upset afterwards. Losing spurs you on to do better, and you want to use the anger and disappointment as motivation,” he told football stats website Squawka in an interview. And his recent magic — against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals and against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final — has convinced people that he has used this anger to get back at the peak of his powers. Messi acknowledges that the game’s demands will eventually take a toll on his body. The report details how much he has already travelled in his career — 591626.4 miles across four different continents for 1061 hours in 11 years of pro football — and the Argentine could eventually withdraw to a deeper role to prolong his career. “A lot of players drop deeper when they move into the later stages of their career, and that’s certainly an option for me, to become an out-and-out midfielder. There are many players who have prolonged their careers by playing in a different place, where maybe you don’t rely on being so explosive all the time, on your speed,” he said. Messi also said that while playing with Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry was great, nothing can beat lining up alongside Neymar and Luis Suarez — despite the fact that it’s a fledgling partnership. “I’ve said before that with Neymar’s quality, touch and fitness, he can become the best in the world – and Luis is the same. His touch, vision, his movement, his instinctive play, are incredible. We all offer something different, and make each other better,” Messi said. Read the full interview here.