Ask most players about the hat-tricks they’ve scored and they’ll describe in detail how they managed to find the back of the net three times in 90 minutes. But that doesn’t apply to Lionel Messi. The Barcelona star has scored so many trebles at club level – 32 to be exact – that he can’t remember each one despite keeping a match ball from every game.Speaking to Barcelona’s official magazine, Messi revealed that his hat-trick balls have a special place in his home even if he can’t recall which games they’re from. Asked about getting each one signed by his team-mates, the 27-year-old said:
‘I always sign it because I believe it is recognition for the whole team. ‘Without my team mates I would not have achieved all that I have on an individual level and I think that with a hat-trick, more than ever, because I depend on them to score goals, so it is a nice souvenir to have them all sign it. ‘I keep them at home where I keep all my trophies, but I have thought about doing something special with them, something nice with all the footballs. ‘At the moment I have them in glass cases but I am thinking about doing something so that they have a more special place.’