Humility goes a long way in defining how great a player can be, and stay that way throughout their career. Talent and hard work aside, being humble is what differentiates the best from the rest. It’s a quality that is adored, it’s a quality that is rare is this day and age, but most importantly, it’s a quality that subconsciously drives you to be better than what you are.
Look at the modern day greats- Ronaldo, Kaka, Rooney, Buffon, Casillas, Lampard and countless more, even ex-managers like SAF and Sir Bobby- all were humble. All were/still are successful. They never let their success get to their heads. Once you let your success take over, you lose the potential to be the best. Being down-to-earth, knowing that there is always room to be better, is what makes you great, if not, the best. And that is exactly what Barcelona’s little magician Lionel Messi displayed when he was told about completing his 50th career hat-trick.
Messi’s reaction to being told that stat really typifies the man that he is. The video shows Messi returning to the dressing room after scoring his 50th hat-trick (six of which were for Argentina) in a 4-2 win against Sevilla away. As he is informed of this great feat, Messi responds in the most humble way possible, saying that he wasn’t aware of the stat. He seemed unfazed by it and just went on the say that it was the win (3 points) that mattered the most to him.
The humility displayed is soul-stirring, even for a player of Messi’s caliber. Fans were quick to identify this trait, commenting on the class shown by Leo. Some fans also stated that it’s easy to lose count when scoring bags of goals is second-nature and winning is all that matters.
Messi has previously stated that all that really matters to him, is winning. Be it a game, be it titles, or life; Messi hates losing. Winning matches and eventually, titles, is Messi’s way of repaying the club that gave him everything. Having won virtually everything there is to win at Barca, and with Messi and co looking unstoppable, the Blaugrana are well on their way to complete the Treble this season.
