Inter Miami star Lionel Messi has revealed he regrets not taking his education more seriously as a child, particularly his failure to learn English.
The Argentina captain and 2022 World Cup winner admitted he often felt unable to communicate with influential figures during his career.
“I regret many things,” Messi, 38, told Mexican podcast Miro de Atras.
“To not have learned English as a boy. I had the time to have at least studied English and I didn’t do it. I deeply regret it.
“I experienced situations where I was with incredible and spectacular personalities to be able to talk and have a chat and you feel half ignorant.
“I always thought: ‘What an idiot, how I wasted my time.’”
Messi said he now stresses the importance of education to his children.
“When you’re young, you don’t realise it. Today that’s what I tell my children, [the importance of] having a good education, to study and be prepared.
“I always tell my children to take advantage of it. They have a different situation to the one I had although I never lacked anything…”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner moved from Rosario to Barcelona at the age of 13 and admitted his final year of school in Argentina was chaotic.
“It [my last year of school in Argentina] was a disaster,” he said.
“I knew that I was leaving [for Barcelona]. At Barcelona, I finished my high school with the other children that went to [Barcelona’s youth academy] La Masia.”
Messi, who joined Inter Miami in 2023 after two years at Paris Saint-Germain, added that football has still provided him with important life lessons.
“I was able to do everything and reach the top [in football], but along the way there are many experiences and lessons learned,” he said.
“It’s true that football is a way of life. It teaches you a lot, it gives you a lot of values. It creates lifelong bonds. You get to know places.”
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