Antonio Conte has rejected the suggestion that Eden Hazard could reach Lionel Messi's level if he became more selfish on the pitch, and said that he would rather lose than have a selfish player in his Chelsea team.
Speaking after Hazard came off the bench to score the third goal in Chelsea's 4-2 win over Tottenham in Saturday's FA Cup semifinal at Wembley, Cesc Fabregas said that Messi is the only player in world football with more ability than the Belgium international and added that he often urges his teammate to show more "killer instinct" in the final third of the pitch.
But in a news conference at Cobham on Monday, Conte dismissed the idea that Messi -- who scored his 500th goal for Barcelona in the last minute of Sunday's 3-2 victory over Real Madrid -- plays selfishly, and said that the first responsibility of every player is to his teammates.
"No, no, no, absolutely not," Conte said when asked if Hazard should be more selfish. "I don't think that a player like Messi is a selfish player. The first target for every great champion is to play for the team and to put your talent into the team. If you do this, the team [increases] your talent.
"The best players in the world don't exist without a team. For me, it's sad to listen to this, that a player must 'be more selfish' to reach the top level. That's very sad. It's not my idea of football and I will never understand this. Never, never. In my team, I don't want selfish players.
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