Argentina vs Germany World Cup final: Nothing can console me, says Messi

Buenos Aires: Lionel Messi received the Golden Ball award after Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany in the final on Sunday but looked far from happy as he went up to collect the trophy.

Read: FIFA World Cup 2014: World Cup history for Germany as Goetze sinks Argentina

"I don't care about the prize. I don't care about anything. Right now, nothing can console me - not the award or anything else," he said. "I wanted to take Argentina to the World Cup for all the people," Messi said.

"I believe this World Cup deserved another final because we had chances. We reached the final... but we're disappointed not to have won this game. There's a lot of anger," he added.

Read: Messi did not deserve to win Golden Ball award, says Diego Maradona

But Messi needn't bother. Whatever he does, it will never equal Maradona in the eyes of his countrymen. "If Messi wins the World Cup, he will come at par with Maradona. But he will never be bigger. Maradona did it on his own, Messi needs a team to do it," said Rosariobased lawyer, Osvaldo Burgos, before the final.

On Sunday, the team Messi needed to help him win, failed him. "If you take Enzo Perez off and bring Gago on you're playing for a draw. If you take Klose off for Gotze you're playing to win," Maradona said.

Messi was philosophical in defeat. "There is sadness to finish in this way, I think we deserved a little more today. The better chances were ours and between the forwards we couldn't take them," he said. "We had three clear chances - mine, Pipa's (Gonzalo Higuain) and Rodrigo Palacio, but we couldn't get it."

Read: FIFA World Cup 2014: Messi's World Cup ends on a bitter note