“Messiah” Tructiepbongda VIP

Messi is a footballer from Argentina, widely considered to be one of the best footballers of the modern day.

He is playing for both the national team of Argentina and FC Barcelona. At the moment, he is also holding five Ballon d’Or, tying the record with his greatest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.

With such a strong and successful career, as well as his impeccable skill with the ball, it is only natural that he would be extremely famous.

Also, he has been staying continuously atop the highest peak for so long that his fans just keep on increasing in number. However, for those who are new, most of his early histories seem to be quite distant as well as unfamiliar.

Thus, today I would like to introduce you to this simple biography of Lionel Messi.

Starting Out

Messi was born with the full name Lionel Andrés Messi on June 24, 1987, by Jorge Messi and Celia Cuccittini. He is the third child of the couple with Spanish and Italian descent.

Due to the tight-knit as well as football-loving nature of his family, “Leo” developed a burning passion for the sport. During his early years, he constantly played the sport with his cousins as well as older brothers.

Turning four, Messi was accepted in Grandoll, a local club, and he started getting coached by his father.

Due to his long-standing support for Newell’s Old Boys, Leo changed to this club when he hit six. Playing for the club for six years, he almost scored 500 goals during that time frame. He and his teammates were crowned “The Machine of ’87” due to their unbeatable nature.

Later on, Messi was, however, diagnosed with GHD (growth hormone deficiency).  People having this condition will have their growth stunted and it requires a huge sum of money for treatment.

A local club named River Plate was aiming for Messi’s signature. However, they were not ready to pay for the large sum that his treatment requires.

When it seemed as all hope was lost, Messi was offered a place at the legendary Barcelona. After seeing the magic he created with the ball, coach Carles Rexach was so impressed that he offered the boy a contract. This contract, however, was written on a napkin!

Then, Messi and his father moved to Barcelona, becoming a piece of the prestigious youth academy of FC Barcelona.

Gaining In Popularity

After spending one year at La Masia, the youth academy of Barcelona, Messi was then enrolled in the RFEF. At age 14, after completing the treatment for his growth hormone, Merci became one part of the “Baby Dream Team”.

In the first full season that he played (’02 – ’03), Messi became the top scorer. He scored a total of 36 goals for Cadetes A through 30 games.

After the season ended, Arsenal offered Messi his first ever offer from foreign clubs with a generous contract. However, he chose to stay with Barcelona while his friends like Piqué and Fàbregas left for England.

During Messi’s fourth season at Barcelona, the ’03-’04 season, he progressed rapidly through the ranks of the club. He made another incredible record after debuting for five teams in one single campaign.

Messi made his debut at FC Barcelona’s main team at exactly 16 years, 4 months, and 23 days old. It was in a friendly match against Porto, which was being led by the legendary Jose Mourinho.

The performance that he put out impressed the staffs, resulting in him being able to train with Barcelona B daily. Not stopping there, he was even offered to train with the main team on a weekly basis.

During this timeframe, he was also able to make the new star of Barcelona, Ronaldinho, impressed. This serves as one of the main reason for making Messi’s transition to the main team become incredibly fast.

Joining the starting lineup of Barcelona

Right on Messi’s 18th birthday, he gave his first signature to Barcelona, becoming one of its senior footballers.

He became the youngest footballer ever to score a league goal, and things only become better from there.

During the ’06 campaign, Messi was integral for the team in their double-winning streak. First, they got the Spanish League, La Liga. Then, they went on to win a more prestigious Champion League.

At the age of 20, in the ’06-’07 season, Messi became the undeniable first choice for the striker position. Fittingly, he proved himself again, scoring a total of 14 goals during 26 games.

After Ronaldinho losing his peak performance, it was Messi who stepped up and crowned as “Messiah” by the Spanish media.

With the effort and talent that he displayed, Messi earned the third place in the race for 2007’s Ballon d’Or. He lost to Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo, who will become his greatest rival later on.

During the ’09-’10 season, Messi made a total of 47 successful goals for Barcelona in all competition, equaling Ronaldo’s record.

However, he did not stop there as the seasons went through. Messi kept on improving and surpassing the records that he personally set.

During 2012, Messi did the impossible and broke the record for all-time most goals scored during any calendar year. At the end of 2012, he had a total of 91 goals scored, beating the previous holder Gerd Muller.

Fittingly, he was offered an expensive offer of 20 million euro a year to play in Russia. However, he proved his loyalty for Barcelona by signing with them through 2018.

Playing Internationally

Due to being brought up in Spain, Messi has Spanish nationality. This results in him being offered to play for Spain by 20 teams. However, he decided to instead play for his birth country, Argentina.

From then on, he became the very face of the national team of Argentina. In the Youth FIFA Championship 2005, he led the team all the way to victory.

During the World Cup 2006, Messi became Argentina’s youngest ever footballer playing in the World Cup. Then they got eliminated in quarters.

In 2008, Messi helped tremendously in bringing the gold medal of Olympic Beijing for his country,

From then on, however, it only goes downhill for him and his nation at the World Cup stage.