England, Spain and Brazil strongest teams at World Cup: Messi

Cape Town, May 29(ANI): Argentina striker Lionel Messi has tipped England, Spain and Brazil, as the strongest sides going into next month's World Cup in South Africa.

"I think that right now, the strongest sides are England, Spain and Brazil. They had a strong, easy qualifying and are very tough," The Sun quoted Messi, as saying.

The 22-year-old, who has had another stellar season with Barcelona, further admits that he is yet to reproduce that form at international level, but hopes that things will click during the tournament.

"I want to do well with my national team and perform like I do with Barcelona and I know that this is a really good opportunity for me and I'm going to try to do it," Messi said.

"Hopefully, it will be my World Cup, Argentina's World Cup and that we hit the ground running and play up to people's expectations and win the World Cup," he added.

Messi also feels that coach Diego Maradona's guidance and advice can help him in his pursuit.

"Maradona has always been very nice to me. Even before he was our coach and I took my first steps as a professional. Now that I have him as a manager, he's even closer and gives me a lot more confidence than he did before," he added. (ANI)