Messi comparisons 'motivated' Clifford in final

David Clifford was instrumental in Kerry's win over Donegal in the All-Ireland final

David Clifford says comparisons to being the Lionel Messi of Gaelic football motivated him in Kerry's All-Ireland final win over Donegal.

Clifford scored 0-9 at Croke Park to cement his place as one of the greatest players of his generation.

It is a first Sam Maguire since 2022 for the Kingdom as they blew Donegal away in the 1-26 to 0-19 win.

Clifford says he feels comparisons to Messi, considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, don't always come from the "right place" and that fuelled is final performance.

"To be honest, I nearly take it as a hit because I think there are people who say it but it isn't coming from the right place," Clifford told BBC Sport NI.

"I think they are trying to build you up and hope that you will fail. That was a massive motivation for me today."

Clifford said he was struggling for words after the win, which came after a blistering start from the Kingdom and Jack O'Connor's side had enough to hand to hold off any potential Donegal fightback.

Joe O'Connor's late goal was the icing on the cake for Kerry, and there were wild celebrations when the hooter went at Croke Park.

"You think about doing it all week and over the last two weeks you are nearly waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it.

"When you are here and it goes well it's such a good feeling. We couldn't be happier."

Clifford added that Kerry studied Meath's approach in the semi-finals and were able to score crucial two-pointers that Donegal's last-four opponents could not take.

He said it was not a specific tactic by the Kingdom, but the management "trust the forwards".

"You could see Meath in the semi-final probably over do it.

"The beauty of our set-up, our management team and how we approach things is we let the forwards do what they want. We trust the forwards to make good decisions and it's great when they go over."