Lionel Messi has revealed the reason behind his drastic hairstyle change
was due to a feeling that he needed to start afresh after yet another
disappointing summer with Argentina, and not because he is a big Aaron Ramsey fan.
The Barcelona forward announced his international retirement in the immediate aftermath of Argentina’s penalty shootout defeat to Chile in the Copa America final.
Messi missed in that shootout and left the pitch in tears as Argentina
failed in their third consecutive international tournament final,
following losses in the 2015 Copa America and 2014 World Cup finals.
However, he later reversed his retirement and made his return to the
side this week, scoring the winner in the 1-0 win against Barcelona
teammate Luis Suarez’s Uruguay.
Speaking in an interview with Argentine actor Mingo, Messi revealed
the summer’s events both on and off the pitch had gotten the better of
him and the new hair was just a part of a new start.
He said: “I made a change to start from zero. “A lot had gone on, things had happened, and I said to myself: ‘I have to break this and start again’. “It was how I felt in that moment. Everything came crashing down.
“I felt like that [Copa America final] was the one, given how the team
was and how we’d played in the competition. It was a huge
disappointment.”
Messi will miss Argentina’s next World Cup qualifying game against
Venezuela early on Wednesday morning with a groin injury but is expected
to be fit to resume the La Liga season with Barcelona against Alaves on
Saturday.
