Messi desire to win same now as at Barça - Inter Miami coach - ESPN
Tata Martino defends leaving Messi out of Inter Miami squad (1:04)
Tata Martino explains Lionel Messi's absence as squad rotation in Inter Miami's loss against Montreal. (1:04)
Adriana Garcia
Mar 13, 2024, 09:57 AM
Inter Miami coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino is impressed but not surprised that Lionel Messi has the same desire to win now as he had at Barcelona.
Martino previously guided record eight-time Ballon d'Or award winner Messi at Barça in the 2013-14 season and then for two years in Argentina's national team.
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"The number ones maintain throughout their entire career the way they compete and the desire to win regardless of where they play," Martino said of Messi.
"That is a big trait of his. I'm not saying that it surprises me because this is the third spell that I have managed him.
"But today I still see it in the same way as the first time in Barcelona, the desire to go for everything that falls on his path."
Messi, 36, became the most decorated football player of all time when he won his 44th trophy after helping Inter Miami lift the Leagues Cup in August 2023.
The World Cup winner joined Inter Miami in June as a free agent after two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.
