After every match for the Argentine national team, foreign journalists who do not speak Argentine, Spanish or Portuguese line up in the mixed area of ​​the stadiums, waiting for the "Tango" players to take a private conversation from them, but the answer is "We do not speak English", and they prefer to go to the local media or one who understands their language.

Among them was Al-Jazeera Net, as we struggled to obtain a special statement from team captain Lionel Messi, and we only succeeded after seeking the help of a friend, one of the volunteer translators, who was a mediator between us and him.

However, why does a star of the size and history of Messi, who is about to end his football career, not speak any second language?!

This matter was evident during the European Football Association (UEFA) ceremony for drawing the Champions League draw in 2019, when the interviewer asked a question to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the first answered in Spanish and the second in English, and even after two years of being in Paris, he did not learn French or speak it. .

So what's the story?

And why doesn't Messi speak English in interviews and award ceremonies that he and Ronaldo are her permanent guests in the last decade?

Messi himself answers this question behind the scenes of one of the interviews he gave on the day he was presented as a player to Paris Saint-Germain last season, and reveals to the journalist that he started learning English a year and a half ago, and despite that he was unable to master it yet, but he speaks "broken" English, and the journalist asks him do you learn Language in order to talk with the rulers?

Messi laughs and does not answer.

Messi explained that he understands any question or conversation in English, "but to answer it and speak it, I need more time."

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However, it seems that Messi's case is not special, rather it is general and relates to players from South America who became stars in Europe and played in the English Premier League, yet they do not speak English.

For example, after facing Brazil and South Korea, we asked questions to the Brazilian Richarlison, the current Tottenham and former Everton striker, but he did not answer, and when we told him, “You are a Premier League player, why don’t you answer the question?” He stopped and heard the question in English, but answered in his mother tongue.

This also happened with players such as Argentine Carlos Tevez and his compatriot Aguero, who played for years in Manchester City, and Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez, former Arsenal player.

This matter was remarkable, which prompted us to ask the question to Alejandro, the Argentine journalist, who explained to us that "language is usually a problem for South American players who play outside the continent."

He continued, "One of the main factors is that these players come from very poor environments, and they did not receive the minimum level of education in their upbringing. Some of them left their country before completing their primary studies, even like Messi, who went to Spain and did not need to learn a new language, and some of them left." their country before they reach the age of eighteen, and all of this leads to one result: difficulties in learning a new language and a lack of communication between the player and any communities or environments far from his environment and language.