National team coach says Messi should be banned by FIFA until proven human

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz believes Messi is too good to be considered a human being and FIFA should investigate where he comes from.

He joked that Messi should be banned until it can be proved he is human.

The Argentinian has been in sensational form for Barcelona as they are hunting for a second treble in four seasons.

The five-time Balon d’Or winner also scored a hat-trick for his country in the final World Cup qualifier against Ecuador, sealing a 3-1 victory that secured them a place at the finals in Russia in June.

Queiroz’s Iran came close to drawing 0-0 with Argentina at the last World Cup in Brazil, only for Messi to score an injury-time winner in Belo Horizonte.

The former Manchester United assistant, Real Madrid and Portugal coach will be facing 2010 winners Spain, European champions Portugal and Morocco in Group B. he is also expecting another memorable moment when his side meet Cristiano Ronaldo.

"It's going to be special, as it always is when you take on great players. In this case, it's the best player in the world," he told sportskeeda

"But when the match starts there are just two teams who are trying to win. Football will decide who wins the day and who was better on the field of play.

"The memories stay with you, of course they do, especially in shared projects, like we had at Manchester and the Portuguese national team. That was a long time ago, though.

"Times have changed and now I've got other Ronaldos with me. They're important players… the likes of Jahanbakhsh, Ghoochannejad, Karimi. These are the Ronaldos I've got to look after now and who I've got to pay attention to achieve the success we all want." He added.