Vicente del Bosque admitted Spain tried to get Lionel Messi to play for them after he moved to Barcelona.

Messi is a dual national of Argentina and Spain.

Messi made his debut for Argentina at the age of 18.

“There was an attempt to do that at the time but he decided to stick with the country of his birth, he remained steadfast,” Del Bosque said.

“This is a phenomenon that we cannot turn our back on, we can’t pretend it doesn’t exist,” Del Bosque added. “It happens too often for that, it’s too significant. You see the players coming from outside of Spain and we don’t know where the next Messi or the next [Cristiano] Ronaldo is going to come from. It could be one of those who arrives here from another country looking to make a better life.”