"There is a lot of credit for what Ronaldo and I did for so long"

At 36, Leo Messi has won absolutely everything. The only trophy missing from his trophy cabinet was the World Cup and he won it with Argentina in the last edition, which allowed him to win the last Ballon d'Or.
In an interview with 'L'Equipe', the Rosario-born player made it clear that his priority was never to win this prestigious individual award. "While I used to say that winning the Ballon d'Or was never a priority for me, much less so now after having achieved everything in my career and being in another moment in my life. I think this is going to be my last one," he said.
"I am happy to have achieved everything I have achieved and to be the player with eight Ballon d'Ors," he added. No one has ever won so many in history.
He recalled the first time he won: "I felt a special joy. It was different because it wasn't at a gala like they do now but on a television programme. I went to Paris with my brothers and there weren't as many players as there were later.
He also recalled his eternal fight with Cristiano Ronaldo for the football throne. "It was always a very nice sporting battle, I think we motivated each other because we are both very competitive. He also wanted to beat everyone and everything. I think it was a very nice time for us and for football fans in general," he said.
"There is a lot of credit for what Cristiano and I did for so long. As they say, it's easy to get there and it's hard to stay there. And we stayed at the top for 10, 15 years... I don't know how long. It was something very difficult to do and I think it was spectacular," he said.