Lionel Messi is one of the most renowned and successful football players in the world. In his life, he overcame his lack of money, physical limitations, and disadvantaged upbringing to become the greatest football player in history. The Argentinean footballer, who holds a record eight Ballon d’Or awards, has displayed his talent early on and has always been destined for greatness.
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Early Life
It may surprise you that Messi first showed his love and enthusiasm for football at a very young age. Messi’s father encouraged him to attend a local football training club at the age of just five after noticing the young player’s ability so that he could learn the game well and develop into a massive football star.
At the age of just 8, Lionel Messi was accepted into the football team known as the New Wales Old Boys because of his outstanding football skills. Where everyone turned to look at him because of his extraordinary abilities while playing, Messi’s charm drew the interest of significant and prominent football teams at such a young age.
Personal Battle
Football had been a source of inspiration for him. When Messi was ten years old, his grandmother passed away. Messi had jolted. For a few days, he didn’t even touch the football. But afterwards, persuaded by his father, he picked up football again. Messi had a significant obstacle to overcome at the age of 10 when he was detected with Growth Hormone Deficiency. It was his significant ailment at the time of his diagnosis. It had halted his height’s progress. The procedures and treatments needed to treat his disease that was very expensive. Messi’s family was not as well-off financially for him to bear the cost of such an expensive therapy. Messi’s medical bills are around $1000per per month, which was covered by insurance for two years.
Life at Barcelona
At age 13 Messi and his family relocated to Barcelona, and he began playing for FC Barcelona’s under-14 team. He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the junior team, and he quickly graduated through the higher-level teams until at age 16 he was given his informal debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly match. In the 2004-05 season Messi, then 17, became the youngest official player and goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga.
Naturally left-footed, quick, and precise in control of the ball, Messi was a keen pass distributor and could readily thread his way through packed defences. In 2005 he was granted Spanish citizenship, an honour greeted with mixed feelings by the fiercely Catalan supporters of Barcelona. The next year Messi and Barcelona won the Champions League.
In 2008 he was one of the most dominant players in the world, finishing second to Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the voting for the 2008 Ballon d’Or. In early 2009 Messi capped off a spectacular 2008-09 season by helping FC Barcelona capture the club’s first “treble” The team won the La Liga championship, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League title.
He scored 38 goals in 51 matches during that season, and he bested Ronaldo in the balloting for both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s World Player of the Year by a record margin. During the 2009-10 season, Messi scored 34 goals in domestic games as Barcelona repeated as La Liga champions. He earned the Golden Shoe award as Europe’s leading scorer, and he received another Ballon d’Or.
Messi helped Barcelona capture another treble during the 2014-15 season, leading the team with 43 goals scored throughout the campaign, which resulted in his fifth World Player of the Year honour. He scored 41 goals across all competitions for Barcelona in 2015-16, and the club won the La Liga title and the Copa del Rey during that season. Messi topped that with 53 goals for Barcelona in 2016-17, leading the team to another Copa del Rey title.
In 2017-18 he scored 45 goals, and Barcelona won the La Liga-Copa del Rey double once again. Messi scored 51 goals across all domestic competitions in 2018-19 as Barcelona won another La Liga championship. In late 2019 he won his sixth career Ballon d’Or and was named FIFA’s best male player of the year.
Barcelona Exit
Messi became a free agent after his contract expired, with negotiations on a new deal complicated due to Barcelona’s financial issues. Barcelona would eventually announce that Messi would not be staying at the club, citing financial and structural obstacles posed by La Liga regulations as a reason for Messi’s departure. In a tearful press conference held at the Camp Nou, Messi confirmed that he would be leaving Barcelona. Later he joined PSG in Ligue 1 and after that, he joined MLS side Inter Miami owned by David Beckham.
International Career
He played on Argentina’s victorious 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship squad, represented the country in the 2006 World Cup, and scored two goals in five matches as Argentina swept to the gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. At the 2014 World Cup, Messi put on a dazzling display, scoring four goals and almost single-handedly propelling an offense-deficient Argentina team through the group stage and into the knockout rounds, where Argentina then advanced to the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost that contest 1-0 to Germany, but Messi nevertheless won the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player.
After Argentina was defeated in the Copa final team’s third consecutive finals loss in a major tournament, Messi said that he was quitting the national team, but his short-lived “retirement” lasted less than two months before he announced his return to the Argentine team. At the 2018 World Cup, he helped an overmatched Argentine side reach the knockout stage, where they were eliminated by eventual champion France in their first match. His success continued at the 2022 World Cup. There he guided Argentina to the finals, where he scored two goals and made a penalty kick during the shootout to help defeat France. Messi won the World Cup’s Golden Ball, becoming the first male player to receive that award twice. In addition, his outstanding play in the tournament was instrumental in Messi winning his eighth Ballon d’Or in 2023.
Style of Play
Despite being physically unimposing, he possesses significant upper-body strength, which, combined with his low centre of gravity and resulting balance, aids him in withstanding physical challenges from opponents; he has consequently been noted for his lack of diving in a sport rife with playacting. A prolific goalscorer, Messi is known for his finishing, positioning, quick reactions, and ability to make attacking runs to beat the defensive line. He also functions in a playmaking role, courtesy of his vision and range of passing.
Personal Life
Messi has a long-term girlfriend named Antonella Roccuzzo. She is a model and a trained dietitian by profession. He had a long-term romantic connection with her, and they supported each other in thick and thin. They have two children together. Thiago Messi and their second child Mato Messi Ruccuzzo. These two were not married at the time they became parents. Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo were partners for several years before getting married on June 30, 2017. Before their marriage, they had both these kids. They had a son after getting married and named him Ciro Messi Roccuzzo.
Controversy
Messi is one of the biggest athletic stars in the world. In addition to earning a frequent football salary, with Ronaldo’s, one of the two largest athletes’ salaries in all professional sports, he is an extremely successful product pitchman, notably for the sportswear company Adidas. In 2013 Messi and his father were charged with tax fraud and accused of using overseas shell companies to avoid paying €4.2 million in Spanish taxes on endorsement earnings. Despite subsequently paying €5 million to the Spanish state, the pair were nevertheless ordered to stand trial on the charges in 2016. In July of that year, Messi and his father were each given suspended 21-month prison and were fined €2 million and €1.5 million, respectively.
