Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi has recalled how Brazilian legend Ronaldinho helped him settle into Barcelona’s first team when he was just 16.
Messi made his senior debut for Barcelona in 2004 as a teenager, joining a dressing room filled with established stars.
According to him, Ronaldinho, who was one of the club’s biggest names at the time, made his transition into the senior squad much easier.
Speaking to students in Oviedo on Thursday ahead of receiving the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, the Inter Miami forward recalled how the presence of established stars initially intimidated him.
“I had to walk into a first-division dressing room packed with stars when I was just 16. I was nervous.
“I had people like Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi, Carlos Puyol and many others around me.
“It was difficult for me because of my personality. I’m shy and I found it hard to come out of my shell,” Messi said, according to GB News on Friday.
Messi said his senior teammates urged him not to be intimidated by their reputations but to focus on playing the football he had loved since childhood.
“What they told me was to forget about everything, forget the context, and just enjoy myself and do what I had been doing all my life since I was a kid, without thinking about who was next to me.
“They told me to do what I loved doing and what I enjoyed,” he said.
The Argentine eventually went on to become Barcelona’s record goalscorer and won numerous major honours during his time at the Spanish club.