Lionel Messi: "My Son Asks Why They Crucify Me In Argentina"

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Lionel Messi: "My Son Asks Why They Crucify Me In Argentina"

Barcelona Superstar Lionel Messi has claimed son Thiago asked him why fans in Argentina crucify him after his latest setback, MySportDab reports.

31-year-old Messi returned to the Argentina squad for last week's friendlies against Venezuela and Morroco, but suffered an injury and returned to Barcelona.

Messi played the full 90 minutes of Argentina's 3-1 defeat at home to Venezuela last Friday, but a groin issue meant he had to sit out Tuesday's 1-0 win over Morroco.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winnerhas often been made a scapegoat in his homeland for the national team's recent failures.

Messi's relationship with the South American media has always been fractious and he even announced his retirement from international duty in 2015 but reversed his decision.

During an interview with Argentinian radio show Club Octubre 94.7 FM this week, Messi has revealed that he finds the criticism "hard" and that his son has even picked upon the negative comments swirling in the media.

"It is hard, my son is always looking on YouTube and saw a video," he began.

"He asked me why in Argentina they want to kill me!

"But I like to keep going. I still want to win something with the national team. I am going to play all the important games. We already reached a World Cup final [in 2014] and this is not that easy."