Does Lionel Messi speak English?
Tom Weber
- Updated: 2 Aug 2023 06:58 CDT
- 3 min read
Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest football player to have ever graced a pitch, but is he as proficient at speaking as he is at kicking a ball?
The Argentine spent most of his life in Hispanophone countries and Spanish is therefore his native tongue. But does he speak other languages? Having spent a couple of seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, the 36-year-old will have undoubtedly picked up some French along the way.
What about his English? Most footballers are required to speak at least a little bit of English due to the international nature of their job, but Messi has rarely shown off his skills in that particular language.
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He may not need to be fluent in English, even though he is now playing in the United States of America. Miami has such a large community of Spanish speakers that it is essentially a bilingual city. In fact, Inter Miami publish their public communications in both Spanish and English, but we may yet hear Messi speak English eventually.
What languages does Lionel Messi speak?
Besides Spanish and a little bit of French, Messi also perhaps speaks English better than he lets on. Inter Miami teammate Robert Taylor told Sky Sports: "I'm taking Spanish lessons and he's taking English lessons."
"Still, the conversation level isn't great, but, on the field, it's different. I feel like football is a language where if you link up with someone, you don't necessarily have to speak the same language - you just play well together."
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However, says Taylor, a Finnish international whose father was an Englishman: "I've heard him say a couple things in English to me and couple of players around him, so I think he speaks pretty good English."
Messi has only been in Miami for a few weeks, so there is still plenty of time for the legendary player to show off his language proficiency. Perhaps he may even give an interview in English at some point.
