Messi speaks out on England

Many would consider Barcelona and Argentina's Lionel Messi as the best player in the world right now. Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres are running him close according to some, but there can be no doubt that Messi is a very special player.

With this in mind, it is worth listening to which World Cup teams he considers to be the strongest. Who does he think are the favourites for glory in South Africa?
Well, speaking about who goes into the tournament as the best three teams, Messi listed Spain, England and Brazil. Each of these teams "had strong qualifying campaigns" and are "very tough" to play against according to the Barcelona man.

This seems to be the theory across football with regards to these three teams. In fact, the best betting site odds also make them the three favourites for the tournament.

As for Messi himself, he is targeting a successful few weeks both individually and for the Argentina team. He says that the whole squad must "hit the ground running and play up to people's expectations and win".

The 22-year-old continued with the positive comments by saying that he wants to ensure the World Cup "belongs" to him as a player and Argentina as a team. So, even though he doesn't rate his team as one of the top three going into the first game, he truly believes they can be the best around come the end of it. Anyone with a betting system may want to take note of his comments.

Should this become a reality, Messi will go some way to proving his doubters wrong too. Despite a superb season for Barcelona where he has been at his scintillating best, he has been challenged to repeat this kind of form for his country.

Referring to making sure he performs at his best for Argentina, he says that the World Cup is "a really good opportunity" to show what he is made of at international level.

Should he help guide Argentina to the later stages and perform in the way he has for his club over the past few months, it will secure his status as one the greatest players the game has ever seen, all at the tender age of 22.