MADRID — Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi says he is not a ball hog in an interview published Tuesday, a day after he picked up a Golden Boot award for scoring 50 goals last season. “I have never considered myself a ball hog, even if others thought so,” the 25-year Argentine football wonder said in an interview with Spain's top selling sports daily Marca. “But I have also taken those opinions into account to try to improve,” said Messi, who also heads a 23-strong shortlist for a FIFA/France Football Ballon d'Or award for the world's best footballer of the year. The Argentine, who has already won the Ballon d'Or three times, is the second-best passer of the ball in the Liga so far this season, with four passes ending in goals, behind only teammate Cesc Fabregas who made six. Messi also is the top scorer this season with 13 goals in the Liga, smashing through the 300 goals mark for his career in just 419 matches. “My playing style has always been the same. I have never looked for it, but it has been like that since I was small,” Messi said. “One thing for sure is that I learned a lot in youth football. Here we work in a different way with the ball and the tactical system. I came from Argentina where we did not do anything like that, everything was about running and not much else.” Messi hailed the recent success of Argentina, which now leads its group in the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with only one defeat, a 1-0 loss to Venezuela. “What has changed is the results. Winning gives you a lot of confidence and you work differently. “Winning the World Cup is the greatest. And if it's in Brazil, even better,” he added. Messi also dreams of retiring at Barcelona, the club who trained him as a teenager and where he began his professional career in 2004. “My dream is to finish my career at the club,” Rosario-born Messi said. “The most important thing is that I continue developing here and I would like to do that until the end,” he added. Messi, who will soon be the father of a son, Thiago, had a few words for his offspring's future: “He should be whatever he wants to be. “When he grows up he will get to know what he wants and what he chooses will be fine for me, for his mother and for everyone.” Messi leads poll Messi is the best footballer in the world and his team Barcelona the top-rated club, according to the inaugural AP Global Soccer 10 football rankings released Tuesday by the Associated Press. A global panel of football writers chose Messi as the clear leader in a top 10 list of players for his performance in the week ending Oct. 29. Messi received 140 points out of a possible 180, 29 points clear of Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo with 111. Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao was third with 79 points. The top three all play in Spain. Manchester United striker Robin van Persie was fourth, followed by Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The panel of 18 international football writers chose Barcelona as the team of the week, 21 points ahead of Spanish rival Atletico Madrid. Manchester United was in third place after beating Chelsea 3-2 Sunday in the Premier League. Each panelist selects 10 teams and players, with 10 points for first place and one for 10th. The weekly survey includes journalists from Europe, South America, North America and Asia. All 10 teams are from Europe and the top 10 players all play for European clubs. Three Bundesliga teams were in the top 10 — Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund — but league leader Bayern Munich failed to make it after losing its first league game of the season against Leverkusen. — Agencies
