"What are we going to do when Messi retires?"

"Can you imagine football without Messi? What are we going to do?" Lineker exasperated when the journalist asked him if the Russia World Cup would be the Argentinian's last. 

Whether or not it is his last World Cup, Messi is hopeful of performing well and wants to add football's most prestigious team trophy to his long list of achievements. 

Lineker doesn't even want to think about it... "It will be a very sad day when he retires. When he's not playing, the game isn't as interesting. He's the best ever, but the day will come where he won't be playing anymore", he admitted.

He went on to explain the reason he is so fascinated by Messi. "He does four or five things in one game that I didn't do once in my entire career. He is the greatest of all time. I never thought that I would see anyone better than Maradona", he stated. 

The big difference between Messi and Maradonna, for Lineker, are the statistics. "The numbers. Messi scores in almost every game. Diego didn't score as many. Leo passes and dribbles like Diego, but, without being a natural goalscorer, he scores a lot. They are both the best, but Messi is a little bit better", he continued.

Lineker is certain that, while Messi is at the Camp Nou, the Catalan club will always have an extra player on the pitch. "Barca play with 13 players, because they have Messi" he concluded.