Speaking to a television channel back in Argentina following his return to the national fold this week, Messi said: `I made a change to start from zero.
`I was emerging from a lot of controversies, of things that had happened to me and I said to myself: "You`ve got to break this and start again."`
Messi was handed a 21-month jail sentence for tax evasion at the start of July and, although he avoided any time behind bars, the Barcelona legend was keen to move away from that period of his life.
He was found to have defrauded Spain`s tax authority of £3.19million from 2007 to 2009, and therefore ordered to pay a fine of around £1.7m.
Following a last-gasp penalty shootout defeat against Chile in the Copa America final - in which Messi blazed his kick over the crossbar - he told reporters that he was quitting international football.
Recapping on his decision this week, Messi explained: `It was just what I felt in that moment.
`Everything was falling around me. I had felt like that was going to be our time, because of the way the team was playing and how we got to the final.
`It was a huge disappointment.`
Now, though, a new-look Messi is back with coach Edgardo Bauza and his Argentina squad - ready to begin qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
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