Biography of Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi, famously known as Lionel Messi, was born on 24 June in the year 1987 in Rosario. He is the second youngest child of Jorge Messi and Celia Cuccittini. His father was a steel factory manager, while his mother worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop. Lionel developed the love and passion for sports, especially football, as he had a family that loved football.
Lionel joined a local football club at the age of 4, called Grandoli, and was guided by his father at that time. Lionel adored his grandmother who used to accompany him to training and matches. Her death greatly affected him, hence as a tribute to her, he started to celebrate his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky since then.
Lionel Messi joined the Rosario Club when he was 6 years old. He is a lifelong supporter of Newell's Old Boys. During the 6 years of his association with the Newell's Old Boys, he scored around 500 goals. He used to amuse the crowd with his tricks during the halftime of the first team's home games. However, at the age of 10, his football career and his health were threatened by a growth hormone deficiency. His father's insurance would cover only two years of his hormone treatment. The Newell's even agreed to contribute but later couldn't do so. Luckily, he somehow managed to dodge the illnesses.
The Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, hence they found a way to arrange a trial with Barcelona in 2000. The team director was highly interested in giving chances to Messi, however, the board of directors disagreed to include a foreign player in the European clubs. Lionel Messi was very young at that time too. However, in February the Messi family relocated to Barcelona. During the first year, Messi lived in Spain, he rarely played as he had an ongoing conflict with the Newell's at that time. He started to remain quiet all the time. He was also the victim of homesickness as his mother left the city to stay with his siblings.
After a year of staying in Barcelona's youth academy known as La Masia, he was finally enrolled in the Royal Spanish Football Federation in 2002. It was during this time that he completed his growth hormone course too, thereby becoming a part of the "Baby dream team". During his first full season, he was the top scorer with 36 goals in 30 games. Although many of his teammates like Piqué left for England, he stayed close to Barcelona.
Messi went on to win seven Ballon d' Or and six European Golden Shoes. It is for this reason he is considered one of the best football players in the world. He left Barcelona's team in 2021. Messi now plays as a forward in Ligue 1 club Paris Saint- Germain, and captains the national team of Argentina.
