Story about lionel messi: Lionel Messi Biography | Biography Online

Lionel Messi—probably the best player in the world today. He is one of the finest and most exciting footballing talents in the world. He had this never ending comparison with the former Manchester United Winger Cristiano Ronaldo but he kind of shrugged off it by helping his team defeat Manchester United convincingly in the UEFA Champions League finals at Rome 2009.

How did he attain this place at the top of the world? At cloud nine?

Messi’s performances in the 2005-06 season earned him rave reviews and a place in Argentina’s World Cup squad.

A forward or attacking midfielder, Messi is blessed with outstanding ball control and pace and has the potential to become one of the finest players the game has seen.

Barcelona is reaping the benefits of his growing maturity on the highest stage and at home in Argentina he has become the latest player to earn the moniker of ‘the new Maradona’. That is a difficult tag to carry, but so far he has borne it well.

Yet, Messi’s story could have ended before it begun had Barca not taken him under its wing at an early age. Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina, and showed a great aptitude for football as a child. He played at a club called Grandoli, which was coached by his father, from the age of five and later moved to Newell’s Old Boys.

He showed all the signs of having a promising footballing career ahead of him but at the age of 11 he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency that required expensive treatment.

His parents could not afford it but after some tentative signs of awareness in Messi’s talent from Barcelona, they decided to move to Spain. Messi tried out for Barca and the club was so impressed it agreed to pay for his medical treatment.

Barca is now receiving enormous return on its investment after Messi rose through the youth ranks to the very top. He was in the first team by 17 and a full international the following year.

He shone even in a Barcelona team boasting the ilk of Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o but missed the successful conclusion to Barca’s UEFA Champions League run having had his season ended prematurely by a thigh injury.

He also missed three months of the following season with a broken metatarsal but the second half of the 2006-07 campaign was when he truly came of age. He became the youngest Barca player ever to score a hat trick against its fiercest rival Real Madrid in ‘El Clasisco’ and netted 11 goals in the last 13 games of the season.

Barca fell short in its title defence in 2007 and has lost even more ground to Real Madrid in what has been a difficult 2007-08 campaign. Yet, through it all Messi, despite another lengthy spell out injured, has been the star.

It was chiefly through his form that the Catalan club reached the Champions League semifinals after a domestic title challenge had long since fizzled out.

2007-2008 was “so near yet so far” for Messi and Barca. They missed out of the La Liga title to Real and were defeated by a single goal in the UEFA Champions league semifinals by Manchester United

Then came Pep Guardiola. Messi took his game to the next level. He raised the bar. He scored 38 Goals in all competitions helping his team win the Treble- The Spanish Cup, La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. They defeated their Rivals Real Madrid 6-1 in the El Classico at the Bernabeu and took revenge over Manchester United by defeating then in the UEFA Champions league finals. In both the occasions—Messi Scored.

Messi is a Spanish citizen but chose to represent Argentina. He overcame injury to feature in the 2006 World Cup and helped his team reach the Copa America final last year.

Messi is said to be dating an Argentinian teenager called Maracena Lemos, an aspiring model whom he met during a period of recuperation from injury. It is said she was only 14 when they met.

No injury is ever likely to faze Messi after coming through his childhood difficulties, but he does seem to have had some bad ones. He tore a thigh in a Champions League tie against Chelsea in 2006 before breaking his foot the following season. He was sidelined for six weeks again after tearing a thigh muscle this March against Celtic. He left the field in tears.

Moment to remember

Comparisons with Diego Maradona seemed apt when Messi scored a stunning goal in a Copa del Rey game against Getafe in April 2007. Messi ran more than half the length of the field and beat six players before slotting the ball into the net from a tight angle. It was highly reminiscent of Maradona’s famous goal—as opposed to the infamous one—against England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals.

Moment to forget

Messi endured a miserable debut for Argentina when he was sent off against Hungary in Budapest just two minutes after coming off the bench. He was adjudged to have elbowed Vilmos Vanczak and left the field in tears.

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Lionel Andres Messi is one of the best modern football players, plays in the Spanish “Barcelona”, captain of the Argentina national team. The athlete was born on June 24, 1987 in Rosario. For 29 years, Messi managed to achieve significant results in football, despite all the difficulties suffered.

Early years

The future footballer grew up in a large family. He had two older brothers, Rodrigo and Matias, and a sister, Maria Sol. The athlete’s father, Jorge Horacio, worked at a metallurgical plant. In his spare time, he coached the youth football team. Celia Maria, Lionel’s mother, was a service worker.

The parents were constantly busy at work, so the grandmother was involved in raising the children. When Messi was five years old, she brought him to an amateur football club called Grandoli, where Jorge Horacio was the coach. The woman convinced the whole family that the boy could become a successful athlete, and she was right. In adulthood, a loving grandson repeatedly dedicated goals scored to his grandmother. The young man diligently studied at school, but football occupied all his thoughts.

Early career and health problems

At the age of eight, Messi became a member of the Newell’s Old Boys. Many world stars started their careers from there. Lionel played in the youth team, his team won the Friendship Cup of Peru. At the same time, representatives of the Argentinean club River Plate became interested in the young talent, but they failed to cooperate with the football player.

When the young man was 11 years old, his family learned about the terrible diagnosis. Messi has been diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency. Because of this disease, he seemed miniature compared to his peers, and huge sums were required for treatment. In order to regularly inject growth hormone, parents had to spend at least 900 dollars per month. The River Plate Club was unable to allocate such an amount, so they refused to cooperate.

Jorge decided to take a risk to save his son and went to Barcelona for a trial with him. The coaches of the national team appreciated the talent of the young man, he was enrolled in the team. All treatment costs were covered by Carles Rexac, sports director. On October 30, 2000, Leo was officially enrolled in the youth team.

The football player proved himself already in the first match, scoring five goals. This game took place on November 17, 2003 against the team of Porto. The match was friendly, but there were journalists who instantly appreciated the talent of the young man. For all the time when Messi was part of Barcelona, ​​​​he managed to score 37 goals. Fans and journalists were impressed with the results of the guy, the coach of the Italian Juventus team even tried to rent him for the season.

The first official match, in which Lionel took part, dates back to October 16, 2004, the Espanyol team became the opponent. Barcelona won 1-0, but this goal was not scored by Messi. The football player distinguished himself a little later, on May 1, 2005. Seventeen-year-old Leo hit the Spanish gates in the championship, becoming the youngest player in the history of the club. He was invited to the Spanish national team, but he refused a lucrative offer.

A few months later, the athlete takes part in the Champions League match, but their team loses to the Ukrainian Shakhtar with a score of 2:0. In 2005, the football player receives the Golden Boy award, but in the same year he is injured, because of this he cannot participate in the final match. In 2006, Leo drew with Spain thanks to his signature hat-trick. He gets second place in the Diamond Ball nomination. Then Messi is nominated for 3rd place in the FIFA Golden Ball nomination.

The next few years were not successful for a career as a football player. He suffered numerous injuries, because of this, the team barely managed to get into the semi-finals of the Champions League. At the same time, an unspoken rivalry between Lionel and the famous Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo began. For two years he took away the FIFA championship from Leo, but in 2010 the athlete finally managed to overtake his opponent.

World fame and other achievements

From 2009 to 2010 was one of the best seasons in the life of the Argentine. He received his first Ballon d’Or, and all the world’s famous journalists recognized him as the best player. January 16, 2010 Leo scored his 100th goal. At that time he was only 22 years old, and the footballer again became the record holder for age.

The next two seasons were also successful for Lionel. He became the first player to receive three Golden Balls, and in 2014 the young man signed a new contract with his club. Until 2018 inclusive, he will receive annually 20 million euros. The athlete starred in commercials for brands such as Adidas, Mirage, MasterCard, Pepsi, Lays and other manufacturers. His face was also used in the video game Pro Evolution Soccer. Thus, today the football player is one of the richest athletes in the world.

In his free time, he does charity work, remembering the help from the Barcelona club in his childhood. In 2007, Messi founded a charitable foundation that raises funds for the treatment and education of sick children in Argentina. Three years later, this foundation donated 100,000 euros to an educational program in Mexico.

Also in 2010, the football player was elected a goodwill ambassador from the organization “Unicef”. In 2012, Leo helped recover Walid Kashash, who also suffered from a growth hormone deficiency. The following year, the Messi Foundation donated more than half a million euros to renovate the children’s hospital in Rosario.

Family and personal life

During his football career, Leo has been in relationships with many women. The first girl Messi, who drew the attention of journalists, was the Argentine model Luciana Salazar. After some time, the footballer began dating his countrywoman from Rosario, Macarena Lemos. At that time, the young man was 19 years old, they met thanks to the Argentine father. But the football player was too passionate about his career, so his parents spoke out against the continuation of this relationship.

In 2009 he was spotted at the Carnival in Sytges accompanied by Antonella Roccazzo. Lionel made an official statement that he was dating this girl and felt happy next to her. In November 2012, the couple had a son, Thiago. Now the lovers live in a civil marriage, at the moment they do not plan to legalize the relationship.
 

Messi is a great football player. How he came to the status of world champion – in 15 facts of his biography

On December 18, Lionel Messi won his main trophy with the Argentina national team on the fifth attempt, finally becoming the world champion. On this occasion, we have collected the most striking facts about his career.

1.

Messi’s football career owes much to his grandmother, Celia Oliver Cuccittini. It was she who brought the four-year-old Leo to the first and all other training sessions of the Grandoli team in the Argentinean city of Rosario, the native of the football player.

Grandmother died when Messi was 11. According to the football player, he dedicates all his goals to her. He celebrates them by raising his index fingers up and looking up at the sky.

2.

As a child, Messi was nicknamed Bloch (La Pulga) because of his short stature: he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency and at 11 years old he barely reached 132 centimeters. Messi took hormones until the age of 14, as a result of which he grew to 169 centimeters, which is quite acceptable for a football player. For comparison: Diego Maradona’s height is 165 centimeters.

Later, the Spanish media began to call Messi the Atomic Flea (La Pulga Atomica) – because of the explosive speed and maneuverability with which the Argentine moved, pushed the ball forward and beat opponents.

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3.

From 6 to 13 years old, Messi played in the children’s academy of Newell’s Old Boys, one of the largest Argentinean clubs. He was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency during this period, and in order to grow like normal children, he needed monthly injections.

However, due to the financial crisis in Argentina, at first the factory where his father worked, and then Newell’s, could not pay for Messi’s treatment. Then the family of the future star was helped by two businessmen from Buenos Aires, who knew about Messi’s talent and had connections in Barcelona. They told about the talented Argentine to the representatives of the Catalan team, who immediately paid Messi and his father for the flight and accommodation in Barcelona.

4.

Messi’s first agreement with Barcelona on December 14, 2000 was sketched on a napkin in one of the restaurants on the Catalan mountain of Montjuic. The club took this step to reassure Messi’s father Jorge Horacio: he flew to Barcelona with his son back in September, but the club was in no hurry to offer a contract. At that time, European clubs didn’t sign South American nuggets very often, so part of Barcelona’s management was doubtful.

But Messi’s father demanded guarantees that the Spanish club would not treat his son in the same way as the Argentine Newell’s Old Boys, but would sign a contract and pay for the treatment.

5.

And Barcelona’s bet on Messi paid off. Already by 2012, when the 24-year-old Messi played only the eighth season for the Catalan club, he scored 234 goals and became the top scorer in the history of the team. The previous record, 233 goals, belonged to the Spaniard Cesar Rodriguez, who played for Barcelona for 13 years – from 1942 to 1955.

6.

Messi is the record holder for the number of goals scored in one year in official matches. In the same 2012, he scored 91 goal in 69 games in all competitions. He broke the record of Gerd Müller, who in 1972 scored 85 goals for Bayern Munich and the German national team. For comparison: Cristiano Ronaldo scored the most goals – 69 – in 2013.

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7.

In August 2016, Messi announced his retirement from the national team due to constant failures. For 11 years, the footballer won only the gold of the 2008 Olympics with the national team and remained a step away from the title four times: he lost three times in the America’s Cup final (2007, 2015 and 2016) and once lost to Germany in the final of the 2014 World Cup.0003

Just two weeks after this announcement, Messi returned to the team. But the first and most important victories – in the America’s Cup (2021) and the World Cup (2022) – will happen only in a few years.

8.

Before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Messi appeared for the first and last time in an advertisement for the Russian brand Alfa-Bank. According to company representatives, Neymar and Ronaldo were other contenders for participation in the advertisement.

Messi was chosen, among other things, because his image coincided with the positioning of the bank – a diligent athlete, and absolutely not outrageous. According to the organizers, the footballer turned out to be a very open but modest person at the shooting: he signed autographs and laughed when he stumbled during a hit for a commercial.

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9.

In 2019, Messi also holds the record for the number of Ballons d’Or, the annual award given to the best player in the world by the French magazine France Football. Then the Argentinean became the winner of the award for the sixth time, beating the eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has only five such awards. And in 2021, Messi strengthened the advantage by taking the seventh Ballon d’Or.

10.

Throughout his career, journalists and the public compared Messi’s achievements with Ronaldo’s victories, although both players repeatedly denied the rivalry.

Fans of the confrontation between the two football players have even created a site Messi VS Ronaldo, which compares their results. For example, it follows from it that Messi and Ronaldo met on the field 36 times. The Argentinean scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists in these matches, while Ronaldo scored 21 goals and made only one assist.

11.

In August 2021, after more than 20 years at Barcelona, ​​Messi was forced to leave the club. Due to the financial difficulties of the Catalan club associated with a drop in income during the pandemic, Messi agreed to a halving of salaries (according to various sources, he earned € 70-90 million a year), but the regulations of the Spanish La Liga championship prohibit such a sharp reduction in payments athlete.

A few days after leaving Barcelona, ​​Messi signed a two-year contract with the French side Paris Saint-Germain, which receives €41 million a year. In 53 matches for the new club, the Argentine scored 23 goals and made 28 assists.

12.

As tragic as Messi’s departure from Barcelona may have been, it could have happened much sooner. According to renowned Italian sports journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, in 2014 Chelsea coach José Mourinho convinced the Argentine to join the London team via FaceTime. However, the deal was canceled after the intervention of Messi’s father – he did not want his son to leave Barcelona.

13.

With all the failures of Messi and the Argentina national team in past international tournaments, the football player has set more than one record in five world championships. For example, Lionel played the most matches at the World Cup (26) among the players of all teams and scored a record 21 points in the “goal + pass” system (13 + 8). He also became the only player to score goals in every stage of a single World Cup, from the group stage to the final.

14.

But all this miracle with Argentina might not have happened.