Oscar Ustari confessed that playing alongside Lionel Messi is “unbearable” at times due to his passion for winning – and his relentless attitude even shocked some team-mates.
The veteran goalkeeper shared a dressing room with Messi for Argentina and throughout last season with Inter Miami. The 38-year-old was full of praise for the current national team captain, as he told DSports that the playmaker’s incredible skill is no coincidence.
Ustari said: “Messi is unbearably competitive, he is incredible in everything. There are team-mates who have never seen him before and they are surprised. Nothing is a coincidence at that level. You see that his release is football, training, being well and proving every day who he is.”
While Ustari and Messi were national team-mates between 2007 and 2012, they rarely played together on the pitch at the same time. Both players were in the youth team when Argentina won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005.
Ustari made just two appearances for Argentina in international friendlies, while Messi has 191 caps and 112 goals to his name – plus an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup.
After leaving Audax Italiano, Ustari signed for Inter Miami until the end of the season in September 2024, joining his countryman in the States. He has made just one appearance for the club, in a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution on October 19, 2024.
However, Ustari and Messi were both in the matchday squad when Miami won the Supporters Shield at the end of the MLS season, in a 3-2 win over Columbus Crew. Messi lit up the match with two first-half goals, and Ustari watched on from the bench.
The goalkeeper also explained that Messi is just as focused on and off the pitch, and is always looking to make the club better than before.
Ustari, 38, said: “He enjoys doing what he does. The first day I arrived at the club he was doing pull-ups, and all the boys were around him. He treats everyone the same, he’s very family oriented. He’s very involved in the academy, he’s on top of everything. I see him a bit like that. He will have to manage his image from another place. I don’t want to imagine him off the pitch.”
Ustari is believed to have just agreed a new one-year deal with Inter Miami which will keep him there for the rest of the year, while Messi is also signed up in the United States until December 2025. The 37-year-old has not made an official comment on his potential move or retirement after his contract expires this year, but Miami can extend his contract through to 2026.
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