Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe
Province, to parents Jorge Horácio Messi, a
factory steel worker, and Celia
María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner. His paternal family originates from the
Italian city of Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to
Argentina in 1883. He has two older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and a sister,
María Sol.At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a
local club coached by his father Jorge. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old
Boys who were based in his home city Rosario. He became part of a local youth
powerhouse that lost only one match in the next four years and became locally
known as "The Machine of '87", from the year of their birth.
At the age
of 11, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. Local
powerhouse River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but were not
willing to pay for treatment for his condition, which cost $900 a month.Carles
Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, was made aware of his talent as
Messi had relatives in Lleida in western Catalonia, and Messi and his father
were able to arrange a trial with the team. Rexach, with no other paper at
hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin. Barcelona offered to
pay Messi's medical bills on the condition that he moved to Spain. Messi and
his father duly moved to Barcelona, where Messi enrolled in the club's youth
academy.
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays as a
forward for La Liga club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He
serves as the captain of his country's national football team. By the age of
21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year
nominations. The following year, in 2009, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA
World Player of the Year awards. He followed this up by winning the inaugural
FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010, and then again in 2011 & 2012. He also won the
2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. At the age of 24, Messi became
Barcelona's all-time top scorer in all official club competitions. At age 25,
Messi became the youngest player to score 200 La Liga goals.
Widely
recognised as the best player in the world and rated by some commentators,
coaches and players as the greatest footballer of all time, Messi is the first
football player in history to win four FIFA/Ballon d'Or, all of which he won
consecutively, as well as the first to win three European Golden Shoe awards. Messi
has won six La Ligas, two Copas del Rey, five Supercopas de España, three UEFA
Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups and two Club World Cups.
Messi is the
first and only player to top-score in four consecutive Champions League
campaigns, and also holds the record for the most hat-tricks (4) scored in the
history of the competition. In March 2012, Messi made Champions League history
by becoming the first player to score five goals in one match. He also matched
José Altafini's record of 14 goals in a single Champions League season. Messi
set the European record for most goals scored in a season during the 2011–12
season, with 73 goals. In the same
season, he set the current goalscoring
record in a single La Liga season, scoring 50 goals. Also in that season, Messi
became the first player ever to have scored as well as assisted in six
different official competitions in one season. On 16 February 2013, Messi
scored his 300th Barcelona goal. On 30 March 2013, Messi scored in his 19th
consecutive La Liga game, becoming the first footballer in history to net in
consecutive matches against every team in a professional football league. Messi
later extended his record scoring streak to 21 consecutive league matches. The
run ultimately came to a halt in a match against Atlético Madrid in which he
had to leave play due to a hamstring injury.
Messi helped
Argentina win the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, finishing as both the best player
and the top scorer (with 6 goals). In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to
play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América
tournament the following year, in which he was elected young player of the
tournament. In 2008, he won his first international honour, an Olympic Gold
Medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team. SportsPro has rated Lionel
Messi as the second-most marketable athlete in the world. His playing style and
stature have drawn comparisons to compatriot Diego Maradona, who himself
declared Messi his "successor".
