It is revealed what would've happened if Messi chose Spain and it shocked Argentina

Lionel Messi is one of the most successful players of all time. During his nearly 20-year professional career, he was champion many times in the world's most important tournaments. In fact, he is the most decorated player in soccer history. Among them, the four Champions League titles he won with Barcelona, and the Copa America and the World Cup with the Argentine National Team stand out.

Individually, Leo has also been very successful. He is the all-time top assist man and the second highest goal scorer, only surpassed by Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition, he has been voted the best player in the world more times than any other player before. Eight times he received the Ballon d'Or and also FIFA awarded him on more than one occasion with The Best trophy.

However, some believe that his professional career could have been even better. Many think that he should have left Barcelona earlier, when the financial problems started to affect the club's sporting performance. Others believe the opposite, that he should never have left. And many criticized his decision to leave Europe last summer to play in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.

But that's not all. Now a former player, who was Messi's rival in La Liga, also gave his opinion on the forward's decisions. He is Mariano Pernía, an Argentinian-born defender who shone at Atlético Madrid, became a Spanish citizen and played the 2006 World Cup. In an interview with Flashscore, he shocked everyone by saying: "If Messi had chosen to play for Spain he would already have two World Cups".

What did he mean?

In the interview, Pernia criticized the mistreatment that Lionel Messi suffered for years from South American fans and the press, saying: "In Argentina there was a time when we didn't deserve to have Messi with the national team because he was criticized so much. People even asked him not to play anymore and it was crazy. That was my reading: if Messi had chosen to play with Spain, he would have won two World Cups in his early days".