Messi says he hopes to score goals in Bird's Nest
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Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi said here on Thursday that he hopes to play a good game against Chinese champions Beijing Guoan and score more goals.
Messi, on a tour with Barca in China to commemorate the second anniversary of the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games, made the remarks at a press conference ahead of his second appearance at China's national stadium following his gold medal winning performance with Argentina in the summer Games.
"I felt great to return to the Bird's Nest," he said. "As a player, I hope to take every chance in the match and score goals. That's my duty to score goals."
The diminutive Argentine striker played only 17 minutes but scored two goals when the Spanish champions routed a team of K-League all stars 5-2 in Seoul on Wednesday.
Many Chinese fans had been worried that Barca, already without their Spanish World Cup winning members Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, David Villa, will not send Messi to play.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola also convinced Chinese fans that he expected Messi to play in Sunday night's match.
Messi and Maradona's World Cup ended in bitter disappointment last month in South Africa as Argentina were humbled 4-0 by Germany in the quarterfinals. Maradona was subsequently sacked last week.
"I certainly did not want Maradona to leave. I believed then that he would stay. But maybe that is just football," Messi told reporters.
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