- Argentina international Lionel Messi has revealed his love for goats after posing with a couple of them in a picture
- The 30-year-old forward is currently trainning with his national teammates in Spain ahead of the 2018 World Cup
- He led the team to the final of the 2014 edition and will be hoping to do better than they did in this year's edition
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has continued with his top notch preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup staging in Russia this month.
The Argentine forward will be hoping his side do better than they did at the final of the 2014 edition of the champions in Brazil – where they lost 1-0 to Germany.
However, the 30-year-old, who many regard as the greatest of all time (G.O.A T) was spotted taking pictures with a herd of goats.
The Sun reports that Messi posed for the shoot with New York-based magazine Paper, where he cradled a kid goat and stood next to a horned adult.
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While reacting to the photo shoot, the forward declared his love for animals, saying: "I am a big fan of animals.
"I grew up with them and they have taught me many things. Now we have our dog Hulk [a large French mastiff] who really is part of the family, we always include him.
"Our children learn so much from Hulk. The love shown between him and the kids and the kids and him is constant."
The five time ballon d’Or winner has been likened to his countryman Diego Maradona and Brazilian legend Pele, however, some believe until he wins the ultimate international competition, he cannot take that claim.
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And the man himself distances himself from such an assertion.
He added: "I don't consider myself the best, I think I am just another player. On the field, we are all the same when the game begins."
Argentina are rated fifth behind the likes of Brazil, Germany France and Spain as favourites to win this year’s edition of the competition.
And the fact that Argentina have the likes of Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain alongside Messi in the ranks, means under-achievement should not be accepted.
Messi continued: "We still have to make ourselves stronger as a team to be in the running to win and be at the same level as other teams like France, Germany, Brazil or Spain.
"But we have a good group of players and the Argentine team is always going to be a candidate to win, it doesn't matter how we get there.
"We always aim to win and we will try to go slowly but strongly to advance in the competition."
NAIJ.com previously reported that Barcelona star Lionel Messi has named the nations he considered as favorites to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup which will start this month in Russia.
Despite winning all major trophies in his career, the Argentina international has never won the World Cup title, but his nation finished as runners up in the last edition in 2014.
Germany who defeated Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final are favorites to retain their title in Russia this year according to Messi.
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Source: Naija.ng