Even the GOAT can get GOATier…
He might have five shiny Ballon d’Ors in his trophy cabinet, but Lionel Messi is still striving for perfection.
The Barcelona star was snubbed in Monday’s nominations for the 2018 Best Fifa Men’s Player award, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah making up the three-man shortlist.
Despite claiming 34 goals and 17 assists for club and country in 2018 – compared to 34 goals and seven assists for Ronaldo – Messi was surprisingly overlooked by the panel, prompting Barcelona to respond on Twitter.
No doubt for Barça Fans.
He is the best.
Period. pic.twitter.com/Ly2i5IczSE— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 3, 2018
It’s unlikely that Messi will dwell too much on the disappointment, but there is one aspect of his game in which he hopes to improve.
When asked by CatRadio journalist Ricard Torquemada what he intends to work on this season, Messi replied: “The penalties. I’d like to be more effective.”
Messi’s current conversion rate stands at around 80%, but he has missed several high-profile penalties in his career including a spot-kick against Iceland at the World Cup.
“It’s very difficult. It’s not the same to practice them as it is to take them in a game. There are a lot of other factors at play,” the 31-year-old explained.
“You can have a plan or have an idea about what to do, but when the moment comes it’s much more difficult to do it than it looks.
“Today’s goalkeepers save some penalties that the ones in the past wouldn’t have. But, yeah, this is a thing that I’d like to be better at.”
Messi already has four goals from three appearances in La Liga this season, claiming a brace and two assists in an 8-2 demolition of Huesca on Sunday.
