Neymar and Messi during their time in Barcelona
Former Barcelona forward Neymar Jr. has disclosed that he once helped his former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi master the art of taking penalties.
Messi, although regarded as one of the best footballers the world has ever seen, has on a few occasions fluffed his lines when it comes to taking penalties.
Notably, he missed from the spot in some crucial games throughout his career—the misses against Chelsea in Barcelona’s Champions League exit in 2012 and Chile in Argentina’s Copa America final defeat in 2016.
However, he turned the corner on penalties at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, scoring four out of the five penalties Argentina were awarded and also scoring in the shootout against the Netherlands and France.
But his penalty-taking transformation didn’t happen overnight, as Brazilian football icon Neymar revealed he played a significant role in Messi’s growth.
In an interview with Podpah, the former Paris Saint Germain (PSG) forward recounted how Messi approached him for lessons about penalties.
“I helped Messi take penalties. We were in training, and he asked me, ‘How do you take penalties like that?’ I was like: Are you crazy? You’re Messi. If I can do it, you can too. Then I taught him, and he trained,” he said.
The two enjoyed a storied career, winning multiple trophies together, including winning the treble at Barcelona in 2015 and eventually teaming up again in Paris to win the Ligue 1 with PSG in 2022.
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