After losing the World Cup to Germany, Argentina captain Lionel Messi is indifferent about the Golden Ball award as he insisted winning the collective prize for his people was more valuable.
Despite Mario Goetze's late strike giving Germany the win, the Barcelona star was still crowned the 'player of the tournament' for his outstanding performance.
However, Messi admitted it was hard to take consolation from carrying his country to the final for the first time in 24 years in the immediate aftermath of the defeat.
"The truth is it doesn't interest me at this moment," he said of the award, according to Direct TV.
"We wanted to win the World Cup for all the people in Argentina and we couldn't do it.
"We tried, but we didn't have the luck we had in other games.
"After a long time not getting past the quarter-finals we managed to get to the final, but today there is the disappointment of having lost in the last minutes of extra time."
The 27-year-old captain, who still has the opportunity to lift the most coveted trophy in the football world, expressed his sadness over finishing second to Germany.
"There is sadness to finish in this way, I think we deserved a little more today," the Barcelona star added.
"The better chances were ours and between the forwards, we couldn't take them."