"He played simple football": Boca Juniors legend harshly criticizes Messi

While Lionel Messi is a hero to many Argentinians, even in his homeland, there are voices of criticism. Former Boca Juniors and Argentina goalkeeper Hugo Gatti has voiced strong opinions about Messi’s career, attributing his success to the teams that played around him.

Details: Gatti claimed Messi’s accomplishments were largely due to playing in systems designed for him, where he faced little adversity, labeling his style as "simple football."

Quote: "I don’t dislike Messi, but he played easy football. I saw him at Barcelona, where everything was handed to him, where no one tackled him, and where he had a magnificent team playing for him. Sure, he could play at the 2026 World Cup, but he’d be an extra player. Today, he’s already an extra player. He’s playing ‘country football’ in the U.S.

Maradona was tackled, he fell, and got up again. Messi gets touched and stays down. Cristiano is limited but phenomenal. Even with limitations, he’s better than Messi. And he’s limited because he doesn’t have Messi’s natural talent, but he played in the best teams in the world. It’s harder to play there.

Everyone competes there—running, fighting. And where did Messi play? Barça and the Argentina national team. Messi didn’t want to play in other teams, in other countries. Though he had the opportunities," Gatti told Mundo Deportivo.

Reminder: Former Argentina teammate Sergio Agüero recently expressed hope that Messi will play in the 2026 World Cup in North America.