Milito: Messi has grown up

I think that Leo has been showing to the world he’s a positive leader. There are several kinds of leaders who play the game. There are those who shout, those who show their example. Messi is the kind of player that everyone wants to have in their team. I see that he’s in a good mood, he’s happy with the group and that is important.

I see that he is much more mature than in the two previous World Cups, which have given him a lot of experience. I hope he can stay like this, being the positive leader he is, as it’s necessary to line up behind him if Argentina are to win the World Cup in Brazil.

It is also very important to have a united group as Argentina has now in the World Cup, the kind of spirit where you give that extra energy for your team-mate. These are guys that have been playing together for a while. They performed great in the qualifiers and had a lot of confidence coming into the World Cup.

The coach Alejandro Sabella has managed to build up a strong group. I had the chance to spend time with most of these guys and they are great lads that will do everything for the national team. I hope they achieve their goal because they have the look of major protagonists in this tournament. We have been waiting for that for a long time.