messi brief biography

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi, a forward for Inter Miami CF, is one of the world’s greatest soccer players and helped the Argentina national team win its third FIFA World Cup in 2022.

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1987-present

Lionel Messi News: Soccer Star Is the Subject of a New Apple TV+ Docuseries

Messi, now playing for Inter Miami CF of the MLS, helped his home country win soccer’s biggest event for the first time since 1986, scoring two goals in the final and leading Argentina to a 4-2 win over Kylian Mbappé and France on penalties. Argentina’s captain was also named the tournament MVP.

The new series follows up Messi Meets America , Apple’s 2023 look at the star striker’s arrival and first season in the MLS. Inter Miami begins the 2024 regular season also on February 21 with a match against Real Salt Lake.

Quick Facts

Early life of a soccer prodigy, club teams: barcelona, psg, and inter miami, argentina national team, tax fraud scandal, wife and children, charity and unicef, who is lionel messi.

Lionel Messi is an Argentinian soccer player who has played for FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and currently, the MLS club Inter Miami CF as well as the Argentina national team. As a teenager, Messi moved from Argentina to Spain after FC Barcelona agreed to pay for medical treatments related to his growth hormone disorder. At the club, he earned renown as one of the greatest players in history, helping FC Barcelona win more than two dozen league titles and tournaments. In 2012, he set a record for most goals in a calendar year and, a decade later, helped the Argentina national team win its third FIFA World Cup. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, and in July 2023, he joined Inter Miami.

FULL NAME: Luis Lionel Andres Messi BORN: June 24, 1987 BIRTHPLACE: Rosario, Argentina SPOUSE: Antonella Roccuzzo (2017-present) CHILDREN: Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Luis Lionel Andres “Leo” Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. As a young boy, Messi tagged along when his two older brothers played soccer with their friends, unintimidated by the bigger boys. At the age of 8, he was recruited to join the youth system of Newell’s Old Boys, a Rosario-based club.

Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Messi was eventually diagnosed by doctors as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth. Messi’s parents, Jorge and Ceclia, decided on a regimen of nightly growth-hormone injections for their son, though it soon proved impossible to pay several hundred dollars per month for the medication.

So, at the age of 13, when Messi was offered the chance to train at soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona’s youth academy, La Masia, and have his medical bills covered by the team, Messi’s family picked up and moved across the Atlantic to make a new home in Spain. Although he was often homesick in his new country, Messi moved quickly through the junior system ranks.

Ultimately, Messi’s short stature—5 feet, 7 inches—combined with his speed and relentless attacking style, has drawn comparisons to another famous Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona .

Messi played for FC Barcelona for 17 seasons before joining Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 for two seasons. In July 2023, he joined the MLS club Inter Miami.

FC Barcelona

At age 13, Messi signed with FC Barcelona. His first appearance for the team was when he was 16. On May 1, 2005, Messi put himself in the record books as the youngest player to ever score a goal for the franchise.

Messi steered Barcelona to a wealth of success, most notably in 2009, when the left-footer’s team captured the Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup titles. That same year, after two consecutive runner-up finishes, he took home his first FIFA World Player of the Year honor, as well as his first Ballon d’Or award, the top European individual honor in football.

Messi became the first Argentinian player to win the Ballon d’Or. Even the great Maradona gushed about his fellow countryman. “I see him as very similar to me,” the retired player told the BBC. “He’s a leader and is offering lessons in beautiful football. He has something different than any other player in the world.”

Amazingly, the soccer wizard continued to improve, discovering new ways to elude defenders while leading Barcelona to La Liga and Spanish Super Cup championships in 2010 and 2011, as well as the ’11 Champions League title.

Messi embarked on an all-out assault on the record books in 2012. He became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League match in early March, and a few weeks later, he surpassed Cesar Rodriguez’s club-record 232 goals to become Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer. By the end of the year, Messi had accumulated an astounding 91 goals in club and international play, eclipsing the 85 netted in a single calendar year by Gerd Muller in 1972. Fittingly, he broke another record when he was named the Ballon d’Or winner for the fourth consecutive time.

In 2013, the soccer great came back to earth somewhat due to the persistence of hamstring injuries, but he regained his record-breaking form by becoming the all-time leading scorer in La Liga and Champions League play in late 2014.

After helping Barcelona achieve a historic second treble in 2015, he was honored with his fifth Ballon d’Or trophy. Four years later, following another La Liga title, Messi again established a new standard for excellence by claiming his sixth Ballon d’Or.

On August 5, 2021, FC Barcelona announced it couldn’t resign Messi due to the team’s budget constraints and La Liga restrictions. Despite having voiced his desire to leave the club the prior season, Messi bid a teary farewell after 17 seasons: “This is really difficult for me after so many years spent here, being here my entire life. I’m not ready for this.”

Paris Saint-Germain

Four days after the shocking news from FC Barcelona, Messi signed with Paris Saint-Germain. The 34-year-old inked a two-year contract with the French club. The move saw him reunite with former teammate Neymar as well as the talented Kylian Mbappé.

Messi made his debut for the club on August 29, 2021, and scored his first goal that September. PSG won two Ligue 1 titles with Messi but twice failed to advance beyond the round of 16 in the Champions League finals.

Although his contract allowed for an optional third year at PSG, the team announced it would release Messi as a free agent when the deal expired on June 30, 2023. Earlier in the year, the club suspended and fined Messi after he visited Saudi Arabia on an unauthorized trip. This all but sealed fate on the soccer legend’s widely expected move.

Messi’s last game for PSG was June 3, 2023. In total, he started in 72 games, notching 32 goals and 34 assists.

Inter Miami CF

On June 7, 2023, Messi told two Spanish media outlets he planned to play for the MLS club Inter Miami CF, which is partially owned by former soccer player David Beckham . “I have made the decision that I am going to Miami,” Messi said at the time, per ESPN . Messi later told Time he strongly considered joining a Saudi Arabian team before deciding on Inter Miami.

A little over a month later, on July 16, the team officially welcomed him on a 2.5-year contract that runs through the 2025 season. The deal was reportedly worth around $150 million , including an annual salary between $50 million and $60 million , a signing bonus, revenue sharing with the league’s media partner, and team equity upon retirement.

Inter Miami immediately benefitted on and off the field from their new team captain’s presence. The club went on a 12-match winning streak and captured the Leagues Cup, an annual tournament between teams from the MLS and Liga MX. Messi wound up scoring 11 goals in 14 games overall. However, with Messi injured late in the season, Inter Miami went winless in seven straight and failed to qualify for the playoffs. He was named the club’s 2023 MVP in November.

Messi has directly boosted revenue for the team, as well. Attendance at home games spiked 40 percent , the most in the MLS. According to The Athletic , the least expensive Inter Miami season ticket prices rose from $485 to $884 per seat from 2023 to 2024. Even with the price jump, Inter Miami announced 2024 season tickets sold out at the end of November, two months out of the start of the preseason. Not surprisingly, his jersey became the top seller in the MLS .

Messi and Inter Miami open the 2024 MLS regular season on February 21.

In summer 2005, Messi quickly made a name for himself on his native country’s under-20 squad. He led Argentina to the title in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring on a pair of penalty kicks to propel the team over Nigeria. Less than two months later, he made his pro debut with Argentina in an August friendly match against Hungary but played less than two minutes before receiving a red card and being ejected from the game.

For all his success with Barcelona, Messi repeatedly came under fire for his inability to help Argentina’s national team win a major title. In the 2014 World Cup, Argentina lost to Germany in the final, though Messi was named player of the tournament that year. In 2016, following Argentina’s second consecutive loss to Chile in the final of the Copa America tournament, Messi announced he was ending his run with the national team.

The soccer great eventually reversed his decision, but his participation in the 2018 World Cup did not bring that elusive title, as hoped. After Messi scored an early goal in a 2-1 win over Nigeria that helped his team advance from the group stage, he was largely kept in check by France, his two assists not enough to stave off a 4-3 defeat that sent Argentina packing.

The following year, after Messi heavily criticized the referees in the wake of a 2-0 loss to Brazil in the Copa America semifinals, the Argentine captain was slapped with a three-game ban by the South American Football Confederation.

At last, in 2021 and 2022, Argentina and Messi found enough traction to bring home trophies that had long evaded them. First, the team won the Copa America—Argentina’s first major title in 28 years—in August 2021, besting Brazil in the final. Captain Messi tied for top goal scorer, alongside Colombia’s Luis Diaz, and was named player of the tournament. The next year, greater glory awaited at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Argentina captured the World Cup trophy on December 18, 2022, after a thrilling game against France that ended in a penalty shootout. Messi was named the Best FIFA Men’s Player for a second time and broke the record for most World Cup appearances with 26 games. Six jerseys that Messi had worn during the victorious championship run later sold for more than $7.8 million at auction.

In fall 2023, Messi scored three goals in qualifying games for the 2026 World Cup. However, as he nears the twilight of the his career, the soccer legend has adopted a realistic attitude about his future. “As long as I feel that I am fine and I can continue contributing, I am going to do it. Today, the only thing I think about is getting to the Copa America well and being able to compete in it,” Messi said of the 2024 tournament. “Then time will tell if I am [at the World Cup] or not. I’m going to be at an age (39) that normally doesn’t allow me to play in the World Cup.”

Messi won FIFA’s World Player Trophy five times, including four consecutive wins between 2009 and 2012, and has collected its contemporary the Best FIFA Men’s Player three times, in 2019, 2022, and 2023.

The soccer legend has won Europe’s Ballon d’Or a record eight times. When he won the Ballon d’Or in October 2023, Messi became the first active MLS player to do so. He’s also won the European Golden Shoe for top scorer six times, two more than his nearest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo .

In 2023, Time magazine named Messi its Athlete of the Year, pointing to his remarkable impact on soccer’s growing popularity in the United States.

In July 2016, Messi suffered a blow off the soccer field when a Barcelona court found him and his father guilty of three counts of tax fraud. During a four-day trial, Messi and his father denied breaking the law and claimed they were unaware of any tax illegalities they had committed.

However, they were both sentenced to 21 months in prison. Under Spanish law, first offenses under two years are suspended so they did not go to jail, but Messi was ordered to pay a fine of 2 million euros. His father was required to pay 1.5 million euros.

On June 30, 2017, Messi married Antonella Roccuzzo, his longtime girlfriend and the cousin of his best friend and fellow soccer player Lucas Scaglia. Messi met Roccuzzo in their hometown of Rosario when he was 5 years old. Their marriage, a civil ceremony dubbed by Argentina’s Clarín newspaper as the “wedding of the century,” was held at a luxury hotel in Rosario, with a number of fellow star soccer players and Colombian pop star Shakira on the 260-person guest list.

Messi and Roccuzzo have three children together: Thiago, born in November 2012; Mateo, born in September 2015; and Ciro, born in March 2018.

Although famously private off the field, Messi has quietly helped others in need. In 2007, he formed the Leo Messi Foundation to provide opportunities for disadvantaged youths. In early 2010, UNICEF named him a goodwill ambassador, with a focus on fighting for children’s rights across the globe.

• Every time I start a year, I start with the objective of trying to achieve everything, without comparing it to how I’ve done in other seasons.
• Whether it’s a friendly match, or for points, or a final, or any game—I play the same. I’m always trying to be my best, first for my team, for myself, for the fans and to try and win.
• I am competitive, and I feel bad when we lose. You can see it in me when we’ve lost. I’m in a bad way. I don’t like to talk to anyone.
• I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people. Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream.
• I have fun like a child in the street. When the day comes when I’m not enjoying it, I will leave football.
• I’ve never stopped being Argentine, and I’ve never wanted to. I feel very proud of being Argentine, even though I left there. I’ve been clear about this since I was very young, and I never wanted to change.
• Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win. I’ve always had this ability to get up and get on with it.
• I wasn’t teased as a child for my size. In fact, I think I had more affection because I was small.
• I am lucky, I live by my passion, and there are a lot of people who work, doing what they don't like and are badly paid for that.

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Lionel Messi Biography

Lionel Messi is an Argentinian footballer widely regarded as one of the greatest players of the modern generation. He plays for FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He has won FIFA world player of the year five times (2009–12 and 2015) . He has often been described as Diego Maradona’s successor because of his prolific goal scoring record and ability to dribble past opponents.

“I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi. Messi is a genius, and he can become an even better player.”

His potential is limitless, and I think he’s got everything it takes to become Argentina’s greatest player.”

– Diego Maradona

Short Biography Lionel Messi

He began playing from an early age, and his talent was soon apparent. However, at the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). This was a condition that stunted growth and required expensive medical treatment, including the use of the drug Human growth hormone.

His local club, River Plate were interested in signing Messi but didn’t want to pay for his medical treatment. However, Messi was given a trial with Barcelona, and coach Carles Rexach was impressed – offering Messi a contract (written on a paper napkin!) which included paying for Messi’s treatment in Spain. Messi moved to Barcelona with his father and became part of the prestigious FC Barcelona youth academy.

“I made a lot of sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream. That’s why I didn’t go out partying, or do a lot of other things.”

– Lionel Messi

In the 2009-10 season, Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo’s record total for Barcelona. As the seasons have progressed, Messi kept improving and breaking his own records. In the calendar year of 2012, he broke the all-time world record for most goals scored in a calendar year. His final total of goals in 2012 was 91 – beating the previous record of 85 by German Gerd Muller, and Pele’s milestone of 75 in 1958.

“My record stood for 40 years – 85 goals in a year – and now the best player in the world has broken it, and I’m delighted for him. He is an incredible player, gigantic.”

– Gerd Muller

At the start of 2013, in club football, Messi has scored 292 goals from a total of 359 appearances, and in international football, 31 goals from 76 appearances.

At the end of 2012, Messi turned down a very lucrative offer to play for an unnamed Russian side. It would have given Messi a salary of €20 million a year and made Messi the most expensive player in the world (Barcelona would have been paid €250 million). He turned down the offer because he was unsure if he would be playing in major European championships and the difficulties in moving to Russia. Instead, he signed a contract with Barcelona until the end of 2018. When asked about moving to the English Premier League, Messi revealed his sense of commitment to Barcelona.

“ Barcelona is my life. They have brought me to where I am today. I could not leave, I don’t want to leave. I know the Premier League is very good. But I cannot see myself playing in England because my heart is with Barcelona, always.”

International Career

Because Messi was brought up in Spain, since he was 11 years old, he has Spanish nationality. In 2004, he was offered the chance to play for Spain’s Under 20 side, but Messi decided to play for Argentina, the country of his birth. He led Argentina to victory in the 2005 FIFA Youth Championship. Messi made his full international debut in August 2005, during a friendly against Hungary. In his first game, Messi was sent off for allegedly elbowing a player. The decision was contentious and not in keeping with Messi’s style of play which is generally clean and in the spirit of fair play; he has very rarely been accused of diving.

In 2006, he participated in the World Cup, becoming Argentina’s youngest player to play in the world cup. Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals. In 2008, he won an Olympic gold medal for Argentina in football at the Beijing Olympics. Initially, Barcelona had not allowed him permission to play, but new coach Pep Guardiola allowed him time off.

In the 2010 World Cup, Messi wore the number 10 shirt and played well to help Argentina reach the quarter-finals, but Messi struggled to score, and Argentina disappointingly lost 4-0 to Germany in the quarter-final. Messi has admitted he is desperate to play in a world cup final. Success for Messi in the World Cup would be the last test of greatness. Pele , by contrast, was part of Brazil’s three times winning World Cup side ’58, ’62 and ’70.

Messi is widely regarded as one of the most exciting players of the modern age – in fact, any age. He has a peerless ability to dribble and take on opponents. Maradona has described his ball control as supremely good. “ The ball stays glued to his foot; I’ve seen great players in my career, but I’ve never seen anyone with Messi’s ball control.” Messi has said he wishes to retain the joy of how a child plays football

“I have changed nothing, my style of play is still that of a child. I know that above all it is my job and that I should approach it in another way, but one must not lose sight of the fact that football is a game. It is imperative one plays to amuse oneself, to be happy. That is what children do and I do the same thing.” (total Barca)

After winning the Ballon d’Or for the fourth time in January 2013, Messi said:

“To tell you the truth this is really quite unbelievable. The fourth award that I have had is just too great for words. ” ( BBC )

Messi and Ronaldo

Messi has often been compared to prolific Real Madrid goalscorer Christiano Ronaldo, but both have been keen to downplay the rivalry.

“Messi has his personality and I have mine. He has his game and I have mine. I also play in a big club like him. We are different in every aspect. But right now, he is the best.”

— Christiano Ronaldo , in September 2011

Messi’s goalscoring record

Source: Christopher Johnson, Barcelona FC. CC-SA-2.5

By any standards, Messi’s goal scoring record is exceptional. By June 2019, he has scored 419 goals in 445 official matches for Barcelona FC.

• In 2012/13, Messi set an all-time world record of scoring in 21 consecutive games (33 goals from 21 games)
• He holds the Guinness World Record for most goals in a calendar year – 91 goals during 2012.
• He is the only player to score in four consecutive Champions League campaigns.
• His international record for Argentina is 68 goals from 133 appearances.

Messi major honours

• Spanish La Liga title (*10) : 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16
• Spanish Cup (*6) – Copa del Rey
• Supercopa de España (*6)
• UEFA Champions League ( *4 ) : 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014-15
• UEFA Super Cup ( *3 )
• FIFA Club World Cup ( 3 )
• Olympic Gold Medal: 2008
• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
• 2006 World Cup – QF
• 2010 World Cup – QF
• 2014 World Cup – Runners-up.
• 2018 World Cup

Wealth and income

Messi has frequently been the target of other football clubs with big transfer budgets, but he has remained loyal to Barcelona FC. He is one of the highest paid footballers in the world. His base salary is estimated at €40 million per year. His combined income 2018 from all sources was €126m. This made him the highest paid sports star – according to Forbes. From 2018, his weekly salary from Barcelona is $667,000 per week.

Private life

By the standards of modern football, Messi has a relatively private and modest lifestyle. He makes efforts to keep links to his hometown of Rosario. He has an Argentinian girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo, and they have two children. His first child Thiago was born in November 2012.

Lionel Messi – Real Bios at Amazon by Marie Morreale.

Messi acts as an ambassador for Unicef, and also runs his own charitable foundation – supporting access to education and sport for children. Because of his own expensive medical treatment, he has also helped Argentinian hospitals with paying for similar treatment to his own.

World Cup 2014

Many commentators have stated that Lionel Messi has performed at his best in all competitions, except the World Cup. In both the 2006 and 2010 World Cup, Argentina were knocked out in the quarter-finals, with Messi not at his best.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is an opportunity for Messi to make an impact on the highest stage of them all. In the opening game against, Bosnia – Herzegovina, Messi scored a great goal to give Argentina a winning start. He scored four goals to help Argentina reach the World Cup Final. In the final, Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany. Messi was awarded ‘Golden Ball’ player of the tournament, though the decision was not universally supported. After the tournament, Messi replied:

“I do not care about the Golden Ball. I am just upset by the wasted chances. We had the best chances. We knew we could not dominate the game but we knew what we wanted to do. Right now I do not care about my prize. I just wanted to lift the cup and bring it to Argentina. The pain is very great.”

In June 2016, a very disappointed Messi announced his retirement from international football, after missing a penalty as Argentina got knocked out of the Copa America final. However, Messi later reversed his decision, saying he loved playing for Argentina too much, and “I see there are many problems in Argentinian football and I don’t intend to create another one.”

However, Messi returned to international football and led Argentina in the 2018 World Cup. Despite carrying the weight of expectation of a nation, the World Cup was considered a great disappointment. However, in the 2018/19 season, Messi returned to his usual scintillating performance with Barcelona.

World Cup 2022

After a disappointing first game, when Argentina unexpectedly lost to Saudi Arabia, Lionel Messi was key to firing Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Mexico, with Messi scoring an excellent goal. If Messi has lost something of his speed and top level fitness, he remains just as potent in front of the goal, with the capacity to make match winning contributions. The goal took him to 8 world cup goals, 2nd overall and level with Diego Maradona.

Published 10 January 2018. Last updated 30 November 2022

• Full name Lionel Andrés Messi
• Date of birth 24 June 1987 (1987-06-24)
• Place of birth Rosario, Argentina
• Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
• Playing Position: Forward
• Total club appearances 684. Total Goals 578 (Dec. 2018)
• Total international appearances 151. Total Goals 81 (Dec. 2018)
• La Liga titles with Barcelona (9)
• UEFA Champions League (4) 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15
• FIFA Ballon d’Or/Ballon d’Or (5)
• Guinness World Record as top goalscorer for club and country in a calendar year: 91 goals in 2012

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of Lionel Messi”, Oxford, UK.  www.biographyonline.net . First published 26 June 2012. Last updated 26 June 2019.

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External links

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Lionel MESSI

Born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1987, Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, and his illustrious career proves why. 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.

When Messi was 13 years old, he and his family moved to Barcelona, where the club assisted him in treating his growth hormone deficiency . He started playing for FC Barcelona's U14 team. The Argentinean quickly rose through the ranks, impressing everyone with exceptional skills and talent. At 17, he made his first senior appearance for the club and became a vital player for the Blaugranas.

The Rosario's native relationship with Barcelona was very successful. During his 17-year career with the team, he helped them win numerous titles, including 10 La Liga titles , four Champions League crowns , and seven Copa del Rey trophies . He is also the all-time leading scorer in La Liga , with an incredible 474 goals to his name. He left the Spanish club in 2021 to join French powerhouse Paris Saint Germain , where he played two years before joining Inter Miami in the MLS.

On the international stage, the former Barça star has been a standout player for his country. He was instrumental in helping them win the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, where he also won the Golden Ball , awarded to the competition's best player. He was also part of the Argentina under-23 team that won Olympic gold at the Beijing 2008 Games, which remains one of his most treasured career highlights.

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Lionel Messi's Life Story: The Smallest Boy With The Biggest Dreams

Lionel Messi is a well-known name even to those with no interest in sports. Even though he is shorter than most of his teammates, he rises above his opponents with adept skill and a legendary ability to score goals for his team.

Since his childhood, Lionel Messi, who was nicknamed "Leo", dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. But his ambition seemed blown out of proportion when considering his physical limitations and financial restrictions. No one could have predicted that after 17 years and 114 days of non-stop faith and dedication, the Argentinian footballer would be playing for his national team and FC   Barcelona .

Inspired by his family and motivated by his passion , Lionel Messi pushed his boundaries to go from being the "smallest player on the pitch" to one of the greatest athletes of our time .

Posted by Goalcast

Training since childhood

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in the warm city of Rosario, Argentina. He was the third child in a tight-knit, hard-working family who fervently loved football.

Naturally, young Leo developed a passion for football himself. His two older brothers and cousins would constantly go out to play, and as soon as he was able, Leo tagged along. But the rest of the boys were much older than Leo, and were hesitant to let him join in.

His grandmother, who always went with him, insisted they allow him to play too. After watching Leo take his first football steps, she later convinced Leo's mother to buy his first pair of cleats.

At four years old, Leo joined the Grandoli local club, where he was coached by his father. His grandmother watched him almost every day as he dutifully trained to develop his skills. When he was eight, Leo joined the talented  Newell Old Boys,  another Rosario-based club that he had always looked up to.

Football soon became as important as the air he breathed. Messi practiced day in and day out, skipping outings with his friends to train at home before a game. The sport made him inexplicably happy and motivated and he began to dream of becoming a professional footballer.

Diagnosed with an inability to grow

When he was 10, his beloved grandmother passed away. The family was devastated, and her absence affected Messi beyond description. He didn't touch a football for weeks, but his father nudged him to carry on for the club. He returned, aiming to make his grandmother proud.

Over the following year, Leo played incessantly. But as he grew older, his height remained the same. His concerned parents eventually took their 11-year-old son to a doctor, who broke the news that the boy suffered from a growth hormone deficiency. This meant he was physically unable to grow unless he received special treatment, which would span three years and cost $1,500 per month.

Unable to cover such a costly treatment, Messi's father was left with no choice but to request financial support from the  Newell's Old Boys club. The coach couldn't deny the child's exceptional talent, and accepted to pay for the treatment. They handed over a small sum to his embarrassed father, but that was all he ever received from them.

As his father continued to search for a way to cover the treatment, Leo was scouted by the Buenos Aires club River Plate , home of Pablo Aimar . Leo absolutely idolized the dubbed "football genius" and was ecstatic at the offer. However, the club was unwilling to cover Leo's expenses since Argentina was currently undergoing an economic collapse. He was undeniably crushed, but it wasn't long before another offer came in, this time from Spain.

Accepting the offer of a lifetime

Stories of a 13-year-old boy who had similar talents to legendary Argentinian footballer  Diego Maradona  had reached the ears of FC Barcelona 's technical director, Carles Rexach . Intrigued, he sent an offer to the Messi family, proposing a trial where he could see the boy's famed skills for himself. If he passed, the club would cover his medical bills, but on the condition that Messi moved to Spain.

While Leo didn't want to leave his life in Rosario behind, his dream of becoming a professional football player was too important. So, in September 2000, Leo and his family uprooted their lives and flew across the Atlantic to Barcelona.

The family stayed in a hotel while Leo presented himself to the prestigious FC Barcelona Youth team. He was given his uniform and went to the changing room, where he didn't speak a word to his new teammates. They all looked at him in disbelief of how small he was, but after he spent two minutes on the pitch, they were in disbelief of how good he was.

Coach Carles was so impressed that he offered Leo a contract on the only thing he had at hand -- a paper napkin. Leo signed it, opening the door to the life he had always dreamed of.

Rising through the ranks

At 13, Lionel Messi was scoring his way through the system in record time. While still very quiet and noticeably shorter than everyone else on the field, Leo stood out for his deft ability with the ball and unbeatable goal-scoring. He was even named Player of the Tournament.

Behind the scenes of his success on the field was an arduous routine. Every day he practiced and every night he injected growth hormones into his legs. This was Leo's life until he was 14 years old.

In barely a year and a half, he had already reached a level in the academy where he could join his first team. His treatment was finally over, and his body began to grow normally again, ultimately reaching 5' 7".

In 2003, at 16 years old, Messi made his professional debut representing Barcelona in a match versus Porto. His performance surprised his opponents and impressed the technical staff. Even after being kicked down repeatedly, he got up, dribbled past four players, and scored a goal.

His moves were unprecedented, partly due to not being based on strategy, but driven by instinct. Leo's talent won him a spot with Barcelona's senior squad, and he trained daily with Ronaldinho. The Brazilian player called the shy teen his "little brother," and openly recognized that Messi would surpass even him.

Breaking personal and global records

At 17, Messi made his league debut as the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition. His coach watched in awe as the teenager breezed past his opponents, controlling the ball with an almost surreal precision. Barcelona went on to win the UEFA Champions League for the first time in six years.

Leo now viewed his short stature as an advantage on the pitch, enabling a swiftness which soon earned him the nickname "The Atomic Flea" in Spanish media. Although he had to train harder than ever to be strong enough to fend off his older and taller opponents.

At 18, he signed his first contract as a senior team player for FC Barcelona. Shortly after, he made his first international appearance playing for Argentina in a match against Hungary. However, two minutes in, a player grabbed onto his shirt and Leo was sent off for using his arm to shake the player off. He sulked about the foul all the way to the dressing room, where his team later found him in tears.

As the seasons went on, the talented football player kept improving and breaking his own records. At 19, he had already established himself as a world-class football player. His talent as a top scorer led him to win dozens of triumphs for both  FC Barcelona and his national team .  At 22, Messi won the prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Although he was constantly plagued by serious injuries, by the time he was 24, Lionel Messi had broken the all-time world record for most goals scored in a calendar year. After every goal, he would point two fingers towards the sky, dedicating the triumph to his grandmother.

Resignation, return, and philanthropy

At 27 years old, Messi proudly played for his home country at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He continued to amaze the sports world with his spectacular footwork, creative assists, and eye-opening goals.

However, he was unable to pull Argentina through the final, losing 1-0 to Germany. Even though he earned a Golden Ball, the highest FIFA award for best player, he was utterly disappointed. Leo desperately wanted to bring the cup back to Argentina, as Maradona had done in 1986.

In June 2016, he played for Argentina at the Copa America Centenario 2016. After rigorous training and intense matches, the team made it to the final. The reputed Lionel Messi had his moment of truth as he stepped up to take the defining penalty against Chile. But he missed and Argentina was sent home to disappointed fans.

Crushed by the loss for him and his country, Leo announced his resignation from professional football. His decision was met with a widespread campaign titled "Don't go, Leo!" The Mayor of Buenos Aires even unveiled a statue of Lionel Messi in an effort to change his mind. Eventually, Messi decided he wasn't ready to hang up his shirt just yet and returned to his beloved sport.

Although he has yet to fulfill his goal of bringing home a world cup, Lionel Messi achieved his childhood dream with inspiring strength and dedication.

Dubbed as "Maradona's successor" by the legend himself, Leo continues to make his team and country proud in more ways than one. Off the pitch, he is an advocate for children's rights, funding medical care for the less fortunate and funding youth clubs, including his old football club, Newell's Old Boys .

The boy who was once too small to play with his cousins is now the winner of five Golden Balls, three European Golden Shoes, and is one of the top goal scorers in the world. But the modest Leo finds more joy in simply knowing that his grandmother would be proud. 

You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it. - Lionel Messi

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Alan Tudyk Makes Reddit Account to Thank a Grieving Fan

For a lot of people, meeting their favorite television or movie star is high up on their bucket list. It's why hundreds of thousands of people shell out big bucks and brave massive crowds at various pop culture conventions every year.

After all, they aren't JUST celebrities; oftentimes they've been with us through some of the most significant periods in our lives (they just don't know it.)

So, when one grieving fan heard that Alan Tudyk, the star of Resident Alien was going to be at the Boston Fan Fest, she knew she had to meet him. She wanted to thank him for helping her survive the darkest time of her life.

However, when the time came, her nerves got the better of her and she "blew it." Fueled by embarrassment and remorse and needing to vent, she turned to Reddit to share her experience.

And that's when fate...who looks suspiciously like Alan Tudyk...stepped in.

Reddit Post

from ResidentAlienTVshow

For anyone who hasn't seen it, Resident Alien is the wickedly funny sci-fi comedy about "a crash-landed alien (played by Alan Tudyk) who takes on the identity of a small-town Colorado doctor," per IMDB . Sent to wipe out humanity, he winds up having a moral crisis of conscience instead.

Since first airing in 2021, it's quickly become a beloved favorite and has a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, in large part due to Tudyk's brilliant performance.

Recently, the actor was a celebrity guest at a fan convention in Boston and met up with our anonymous Redditor.

“I went to Fan Fest Boston and met Alan on Saturday,” her post began. She wanted to tell him how much his show meant to her.

“I wanted to tell him that ‘Resident Alien’ was the first show that made me laugh after my husband died this winter, that it helped me to feel human again, and I wanted to thank him for that.”

Instead, she froze.

After witnessing the long lines of people and how "exhausted" Tudyk appeared, she "got too nervous about taking up his time." Plus she knew she couldn't tell him without crying.

So instead, she “stood there awkward and stupid,” and made a "dumb Firefly joke" while he signed her picture.

"...and [I] will now spend the rest of my days regretting how I missed my chance to let him know that his work really affected someone and helped them through a hard time."

She figured the Resident Alien Reddit community might understand her remorse, but also just how greatly the show impacted her life.

She ended her post, "I know he probably wouldn't care and he would forget by the end of the day so I'm not sure why it's bothering me so much, but I just really wanted to say thank you."

Alan Tudyk's Sweet Response

Turns out, Tudyk did care. Thanks to the power of the internet, a friend of his saw the post and passed it on. He immediately created his own Reddit account so he could respond. And if you didn't love him before, guaranteed you will now. (Move over Keanu Reeves !)

"My friend sent me this," he wrote. "Sorry you feel like you missed your opportunity. I have read your message. I love that you have such a beautiful connection with the show."

He continued, "I’m so sorry to hear about your husband. I’m glad you’re finding your laugh again and honored that I’m part of that. Your story and similar stories I’ve heard are so touching."

"It makes me feel like my work, which I appreciate getting to do, has worth beyond the Hollywood hustle of it all and the BS business of show business."

He then invited her to come back to the Fan Expo so they could meet. "I’d love to say thank you in person :)"

Unfortunately, the OP wasn't able to take him up on the offer, writing in an update that she was "also a mother and my children and I had plans for our first Father's Day after our loss."

She also sent a personal comment back to Tudyk, thanking him for the offer and writing:

"Please know that the woman in the Loot Crate Wash shirt, who very awkwardly made conversation with you and said that I am a leaf on the wind was too sad when you autographed my picture, thinks the world of you and will absolutely come again next year if you are in Boston and I will be sure to say something!"

Here's to there being a next time!

The Power of Connection

This story isn't just about a positive celebrity encounter (although it is pretty cool). It's also about the power of finding solace and comfort in connection. Whether it's in real life or in the world of make believe.

By sharing our stories in whatever medium, we discover the greatest gift of all: we are not alone.

It's this message that the OP hopes to send.

"Please know first that I'm well aware that my story is nothing special, I'm not the only person in this community to lose someone and find a connection or comfort in the show and I really shared my story thinking that others might share theirs and we could comfort each other," she wrote in her update.

She ended her heartfelt post in the best (and frankly only) way possible. With a fitting quote from Tudyk himself (as his character in Resident Alien ).

"Everyone needs to belong to something bigger than themselves. Yes, there is strength in numbers, but maybe it's simpler. Maybe humans just feel better when they know they are not alone on this earth."

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Dad of 2 Goes Viral on TikTok For Talking About "Mom Bods"

It's no secret that a woman's body changes after children. After all, growing a literal human is no small feat.

And while men are often celebrated and embraced for their "dad bods," women? Not so much. “Mom bods” are only celebrated if they don’t actually look like they carried or birthed a baby.

But one dad is working to change that, and he's setting TikTok on fire with his body-positive anthem of the summer.

Dad of 2 Goes Viral For His Take On the "Mom Bod"

@captaincoby00 I 100% have a type hahah #dating #alberta #summerdress #smile #canada

Coby, who goes by @captaincoby00 on TikTok is a content creator and 40-year-old single dad of two girls. Much of his content revolves around kids, parenting, and dating but it's a video captioned "When The Ladies With Mom Bods Rock Summer Dresses," that's making waves.

Garnering more than 6 MILLION views and counting, the video is turning the tables on the messages women are bombarded with daily regarding their bodies. And mom bods? Are FINALLY getting the appreciation they deserve.

Cody opens the clip with a view of him looking out his vehicle's window, a scowl on his face, lip-syncing the words "Eww, what's that?"

At first glance, it seems like this is going to go in a whole different direction and commenters were getting ready to throw hands.

" I thought I was on the wrong side of tiktok for a second," wrote one commenter. With another one chiming in, "*deletes scathing paragraph.*

But seconds later, he flashes a smile and the music changes, launching into the chorus of arguably one of Gen-X's greatest hits (OF ALL TIME), Belinda Carlisle's Heaven is a Place on Earth .

Needless to say, people were HERE FOR IT and the comments confirm it.

"FINALLY Mom bods are a thing."

"Mom bods gave life. Literal life. It’s about time we recognize that instead of shaming them."

"Trying to feel comfortable rocking a summer dress with my mom bod. My husband wants me to wear a sundress so bad and this makes me feel like trying it."

"You’re the first person I have ever seen to express support/desire for mom bods. Thank you."

I"'m taking this as permission to buy that sundress and rock it like the overestimated, caffeine addicted, mother of 4 that I am."

The Body Positive Movement

@captaincoby00 My last tiktok blew up so welcome to the party!!#dating #alberta #canada #smile #happy #mombod

Coby had no idea when he made the video that it would have such a huge impact. He just knew he wanted to show the mom bod some much-deserved love.

"The reason I made the video is because, unfortunately, it seems to be a trend these days where everyone loves a dad bod, but the mom bod never gets the credit it really deserves." - Coby via CafeMom

He's not wrong. Dating.com surveyed 2,000 of its members about their body type preferences when looking for a partner.

The overwhelming response: Dad bod for the WIN.

According to a PRESS RELEASE , the results of the study found that:

• Nearly 75% of singles shared that they are a fan of the “dad bod,” meaning they like a figure that isn’t super chiseled.
• Even though dad bods were a highly ranked preference, more than 20% of those surveyed also shared that body type doesn’t matter when it comes to finding a partner. They prefer to focus on personality over looks.

So forget the chiseled physique and pass the tacos and beer. Unless you're a woman...because while men are enjoying the fruits of their non-labor (when it comes to the gym), moms are still not enjoying the fruits of LITERAL labor.

Embracing The Body We're In

While "body positivity" is the buzzword of our times with movements encouraging individuals to embrace their bodies as they are, it's easier said than done. The majority of images we see are unrealistic and powered by a billion-dollar industry profiting off of women trying to conform to impossible standards.

And for all the positive comments on Coby's TikTok, there were heartbreaking ones too.

"This hit me hard. I’ve been so insecure about how to dress lately."

"Do we actually look okay after 3 kids?"

"I have a mom bod but it don’t look great in a summer dress."

Coby just hopes his daughters hear his message loud and clear and grow up feeling proud and confident in who they are, regardless of their shape or size.

As for all the women out there still feeling bad in the skin they're in? Coby has this to say...

"My message to the women: Be you, be confident. Don't let anyone tell you you're not beautiful. The body is the cover to an amazing book. It may have some love handles, muffin tops, or scars, but it makes you who you are and tells your story."

*Featured image contains photo by Mitya Zotov

Copyright © 2024 Goalcast

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Lionel Messi summary

Lionel Messi , (born June 24, 1987, Rosario, Arg.), Argentine-born football (soccer) player. After making his formal debut with FC Barcelona during the 2004–05 season, when he became the youngest official player and goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga, he emerged as one of the game’s dominant players, known for his prolific goal scoring and precise ball control. Messi received an unprecedented four consecutive FIFA world men’s player of the year awards, from 2009 to 2012, and he won the award again in 2015 and 2019. In international competition he helped Argentina win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He also led the Argentine national team to win the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 World Cup.

Lionel Messi Biography Facts, Childhood, Career, Life

Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini (born June 24, 1987) is an Argentine professional football player, who despite the odds against him, turns things around and brings out a miracle when it’s least expected. He captains and plays forward for Barcelona (Spanish club) as well as the Argentina national team. Ever since he was a kid, he has entertained many with his prodigious skills, amazing dribbles, astounding swiftness and powerful shots. Now a global icon, he still adds to the thrill of the beautiful game of football. We discuss the life of Lionel Messi, fondly referred to as the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) in our Lionel Messi biography facts, childhood, career and personal life. 

Our analysis includes Messi’s rise from being a football enthusiast at a tender age to now becoming the modern-age face-of-the-game, and how he overcame the seemingly insurmountable challenges that stood between him and his dreams.

Table of Contents

Lionel Messi Biography Quick Facts, Age

Here are some quick biography facts you should know about the Argentine professional football player.

Lionel Messi Childhood & Early Life

Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini was given birth to on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, to a steel factory manager, Jorge Messi and his wife Celia Cuccittini. Messi was the third of four children they gave birth to. He grew up in a family where the game of football was adored.

At a tender age, he played with his elder brothers before joining a local club, Grandoli, before moving on to Newell’s Old Boys. At Grandoli, Messi was coached by his father, but his grandmother accompanied him to his matches as well as training. He was thus affected by her. His unique style of celebration which involves looking up and pointing to the sky is a tribute to his late grandmother.

Messi’s dream of becoming a professional footballer was threatened when he clocked 10 years. He was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. As a result of his family’s inability to bear the expense of his treatment, they resorted to football clubs who saw Messi as a potential to bear the cost. After several setbacks, Messi’s treatment cost was paid for by Barcelona. After his transfer to Barcelona, he did not make appearances regularly in matches due to transfer issues with Newell as well as the unusual signing of foreign plays by European Clubs. After joining the Royal Spanish Football Federation, he began playing for Barcelona. Upon completion of his growth hormone deficiency treatment, he became a force to reckon with in the Barcelona youth team.

Lionel Messi Club Career

Fc barcelona.

Messi progressed through the ranks of Barcelona’s junior team, leading to his move to the senior team. He debuted for five teams in a season. During the international break, Messi was among the few players who helped strengthen the first team in the absence of the players. Messi finally debuted for the senior team at the age of 16. Messi’s wondrous performance earned him the friendship of Barcelona’s star Ronaldinho, who enabled him to have a smooth transition into the first team. His remarkable antics earned him a juicy contract in 2004 set to expire in 2012, the first professional contract he signed, had a buyout clause of 30 million euros which increased to 80 million euros.

In the 2004–2005 season, he became a regular starter in Barcelona’s B-team. However, he was a substitute player in the A-team, debuting for them in the league on October 16 against Espanyol. Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona as a senior team player on his 18th birthday. The contract was set to expire in 2010, with a buyout clause of 150 million euros. Messi caught the attention of European top clubs, one of such Inter Milan indicated interest in Messi, offering to triple his wages as well as pay his 150 million euros’ buyout clause. However, Messi opted to stay. In September of that season, his contract was updated and was set to expire in 2014. After acquiring Spanish citizenship Messi began playing alongside Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho forging a powerful attacking trio.

During the 2006–2007 season, at the age of 19, Messi became one of the best players in the world. Despite suffering injuries, Messi proved his similarity to Argentina’s legend Diego Maradona after several comparisons. A notable event which speaks of this truth was the 2006–2007 Copa del Rey semi-final against Getafe, where he scored a goal similar to Maradona’s 1986 FIFA World Cup goal dubbed as the Goal of the Century. Following the decline of Ronaldinho, Messi became Barcelona’s new star, with Spanish media calling him “Messiah”. He emerged second third in the 2007 Ballon d’Or and second in the FIFA World Player of the Year Award. Following the departure of Ronaldinho, Messi was given the no.10 jersey and signed a new contract with an annual salary of 7.8 million euros, Barcelona’s highest.

In 2008, he came second in the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year Award.

He However won the Ballon d’Or and FIFA Player of the year in 2009, at the age of 22. That season Messi had a successful campaign, winning the second consecutive La Liga title.

In 2010, Messi won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or despite his failure at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Messi finished the 2010–2011 season as Barcelona’s all-time single-season highest scorer and the first player in Spain to pass the 50-goal benchmark. Thanks to his wonderful performance, Messi created a reputation for himself as a creator (no. 8), a scorer (no. 9) and an assistant (no. 10). He received the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or award as well as the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Due to his numerous achievements, Messi was regarded as one of the best in the history of the game.

Messi’s incredible form continued, in 2012, he was bestowed with the Guinness book of record title for most goals scored in a calendar year as well as the FIFA Ballon d’Or Award.

In the 2013–2014 season, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona which will see him at Camp Nou until 2018. After Messi sustained an injury and deemed unfit for Barcelona’s champions league match against Bayern Munich, the Catalan Giant were defeated 7-0 on aggregate. Barcelona was heavily criticized for their dismal performance which shows their dependence on the Argentine star. His campaign that season was the worst he had in five years. He signed a new contract with Barcelona which saw his salary increase from 20 million euros to 36 million euros. Under the leadership of new coach, Luis Enrique. Messi became La Liga’s all-time top-scorer. He came second in the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or awards for the second time in a row. Messi established an attacking trio with teammates Suarez and Neymar which prove to be deadly to opponents. At the end of the season, he received the UEFA Best Player in Europe.

In the 2015–2016 season, Messi became the youngest person to make 100 appearances in the champions league. Messi also helped Barcelona claim the 2015 Club World Cup Final, where he was awarded the tournament’s Silver Ball. Messi emerged a runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2016 Ballon d’Or award as well as the 2016 Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, he also claimed the Pichichi and European Golden Boot.

Messi also had a spectacular and incredible performance in the 2017–2018 season, but not spectacular enough to earn him the Ballon d’Or award. Messi was handed the captaincy in the 2018–2019 season following the departure of Andres Iniesta.

Lionel Messi National Team Career

The ace footballer has scored 65 goals in 128 appearances for the Argentina National team. He, however, has failed to extend his successful run with Barcelona to the La Albiceleste. Though he has always put up a good performance, every time he leads the La Albiceleste to a tournament, they end up crashing out in the quarter-final, semi-final or final.

In the 2006 World Cup, Messi who was pretty young was part of the Argentine squad who were knocked out in the quarter-final. Eight years later, on South-American soil, Messi led the La Albiceleste to a wonderful run in the world Cup before seeing his World Cup dream dashed after a late lone strike by their German opponents. The Copa America tournament has also been the same, emerging runners-up successively.

Lionel Messi Family & Personal Life

Lionel Messi is known to be an introvert as well as a reserved individual.

He began his relationship with his wife who he had known since the age of 5, at the age of 20. They got married in Rosario, in 2017. They gave birth to their first son Thiago in 2012, their second Mateo in 2015 and last Ciro in 2018.

Messi has a tight-knitted relationship with his mother, Celia whose face he tattooed on his hand. Messi’s father has been his agent since the age of 14, while his elder brother manages his daily schedule and publicity, his mother and brother, Matias runs his charitable organization, The Lionel Messi Foundation. Since 2010, Messi has been a goodwill ambassador for the UNICEF.

Messi also supports grassroots football. He has an investment with youth football team Sarmiento, based in Rosario.

Messi has also had his fair share of tax evasion charges. In 2013, he was investigated for benefiting in a network of offshore companies to evade taxes. Despite pleading ignorance for the tax evasion charges, Messi was found guilty of tax evasion along with his father and was sentenced to a suspended 21-month prison term and fined 1.7 million euros and 1.4 million euros.

Lionel Messi Highlights, Achievements & Awards

Tournaments won.

• U-20 World Cup champion (2005)
• Spanish Super Cup (Supercopa) (2005/06, 2006/07, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2013/14, 2016/17, 2018/19)
• Spanish Cup (Copa del Rey) (2008/09, 2011/12, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17,2017/18)
• FIFA Club World Cup (2009, 2011, 2015)
• UEFA Supercup (2009/10, 2011/12, 2015/16)
• Olympics Medalist (2008/09)
• Spanish Champion (La Liga) (2004/05 2005/06, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2012/13, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2017/18)
• UEFA Champions League (2005/06, 2008/09, 2010/11, 2014/15)

Individual Awards

• Golden Boot (2016/17)
• Striker of the Year (2014/15)
• Player of the Year (2014 World Cup, 2014/15 La Liga, 2015 Copa America)
• UEFA Best Player in Europe (2009, 2011, 2015)
• Top-scorer (2008/09, 2010/11 & 2013/14 Copa del Rey, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2013/14 & 2014/15 UEFA Champions League, 2009/10, 2010/11 & 2011/12 Supercopa, 2009/10, 2011/12, 2012/13 & 2016/17 La Liga, 2011 FIFA Club World Cup)
• Top-10 Highest-Paid Football/Soccer Players 2019
• Top-20 Best Football Academies In The World 2019

Facts Check

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If you have concerns about something that doesn’t look right in this Lionel Messi Biography Facts, Childhood, Career, Life, please don’t hesitate to contact us .

About The Author

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This article was created by a combination of a few writers and editors from Sporty Tell. It's not rare for our writers and team members to collaborate and work together to create the articles you read on the site. This is just one of these examples. This is why you don't see just one author for this article.

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The Lion is the very best. My opinion.

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Lionel Messi Biography

Birthday: June 24 , 1987 ( Cancer )

Born In: Rosario, Argentina

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Nick Name: Atomic Flea

Also Known As: Lionel Andrés Messi, Leo Messi

Age: 37 Years , 37 Year Old Males

Spouse/Ex-: Antonella Roccuzzo (m. 2017)

father: Jorge Messi

mother: Celia María Cuccittini

siblings: Maria Sol Messi, Matias Messi , Rodrigo Messi

children: Ciro Messi Roccuzz, Mateo Messi, Thiago Messi

Quotes By Lionel Messi Football Players

Height: 5'7" (170 cm ), 5'7" Males

Ancestry: Argentine Spanish

City: Rosario, Argentina

You wanted to know

What are some of lionel messi's notable career achievements.

Lionel Messi has won multiple FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, numerous La Liga titles with FC Barcelona, and holds the record for most goals scored in a calendar year.

Can Lionel Messi speak English?

Yes, Lionel Messi can speak English, although he is more comfortable conducting interviews and interactions in Spanish.

How many children does Lionel Messi have?

Lionel Messi has three children with his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo.

Does Lionel Messi have any tattoos?

Yes, Lionel Messi has several tattoos on his body, including dedications to his family and his personal beliefs.

What is Lionel Messi's playing style?

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Lionel Messi

Introduction.

Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He began playing soccer as a young boy. By 1995 he was a good enough player to join Newell’s Old Boys, a top-division soccer club in Rosario. Messi’s skills won attention on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and at the age of 13 Messi moved to Barcelona, Spain, to join FC Barcelona’s under-14 team. He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the junior team. He rose through the ranks until he made his first-team debut at age 16.

FC Barcelona

In the 2004–05 season Messi, at 17 years old, became the youngest official player and goal scorer for the Spanish La Liga (the country’s highest division of soccer). The next year Messi helped FC Barcelona win the Champions League (the European club championship) title. By 2008 he was one of the most dominant players in the world. During the 2008–09 season Messi scored 38 goals in 51 games and led his team to its first “treble”—winning three major European club titles in one season. He won his first FIFA World Player of the Year honors that year as well. The following season he scored 34 goals, and Barcelona repeated as La Liga champions. Messi won the Golden Shoe award as Europe’s top scorer and his second world player of the year award.

During the 2010–11 season Messi led Barcelona to La Liga and Champions League titles. He became the first player to win a third straight world player of the year award. In March 2012, at the age of 24, he scored his 233rd goal. This made him Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer in La Liga play. Messi went on to break a 39-year-old major European football league record when he finished the 2011–12 season with 73 goals in all competitions. This performance led to him being the first player to ever win a fourth world player of the year award.

Messi continued to perform at the highest level. In 2014 he broke the career scoring records for both the Champions League (72 goals) and La Liga (253 goals). Messi helped Barcelona capture another treble in the 2014–15 season, which resulted in his fifth world player of the year award. Over the next four seasons Messi led Barcelona to various championships, including numerous La Liga and Copa del Rey (the main Spanish cup competition) titles. In 2019 he won his sixth world player of the year award. In March 2021 Messi broke a Barcelona club record when he played his 768th game for the team. He won his seventh player of the year award that year as well. After playing for Barcelona for 21 years, Messi left the club in 2021. He went on to play in France for Paris Saint-Germain.

Argentina National Team

Despite his career in Spain, Messi maintained strong ties with his home country of Argentina. He has played on various Argentine national teams from 2005. He played on Argentina’s winning 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship team and helped sweep Argentina to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games . Messi was a key player on Argentina’s World Cup teams. In 2014 Messi was responsible for getting the team to its first World Cup final in 24 years. Even though Argentina lost to Germany, Messi won the Golden Ball award for the tournament’s best player. In 2022 Messi led Argentina to its first World Cup championship since 1986.

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Lionel Messi Biography: Personal Life, Career and Achievements

Introduction

Quick facts about lionel messi, messi’s childhood and personal life, start of career of lionel messi, lionel messi’s career, what are lionel messi’s biggest achievements, stats and numbers.

To win recognition as one of the best to ever play the game is always an extremely hard goal, not only in soccer but in any sport . It’s even more challenging when other players have already won that reputation— let alone if someone from your own country did so.

Well, Lionel Messi defied the odds and did all of that. In a country where everyone thought that no one would ever come close to Diego Maradona , a relatively unknown teenager raised in Barcelona eventually proved them wrong. Argentina produced another legend after Maradona, and that’s Leo Messi. Here, let’s get to know more about him .

Lionel Messi normally needs no introduction, but for those who need context, he’s a professional footballer widely regarded as the best of all time , or at least one of them. He was born in Argentina but spent most of his life in Europe , where he played for Spain giants FC Barcelona since he was a kid. In 2021, Messi left for Paris Saint-Germain , which is just his second club in his fantastic career. Messi is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2010.

• Full Name : Lionel Andrés Messi
• Nickname : Leo, La Pulga, La Pulga Atómica—The Flea, The Atomic Flea
• Birth Date : June 24, 1987
• Nationality : Argentina
• Height : 1.70 m (5 ft  7 in)
• Position : Winger, attacking midfielder, false nine
• Number : #10, #30

Lionel Messi’s Family

• Parents : Jorge Messi (father) and Celia María Cuccittini
• Siblings : Rodrigo (elder brother), Matías (elder brother), and María Sol (younger sister).
• Wife : Antonella Roccuzzo
• Children : Thiago, Mateo, Ciro

Lionel Messi’s Parents

Born and raised in Rosario , Lionel Messi comes from a working-class family that has been by his side throughout his entire life. His father Jorge worked as section manager in a steel factory, while her mother Celia worked in a magnetic oil workshop and occasionally cleaned houses for a living. Leo also has two elder brothers, Rodrigo and Matías , and a younger sister, María Sol .

Leo’s career, however, changed their lives . Jorge has acted as his agent since Messi joined the Barcelona youth academy, while his brothers eventually started to handle his businesses and professional brands. Still, his family—especially Jorge and Celia—has always kept a low profile despite the Argentine footballer’s rise to stardom.

Lionel Messi’s Wife and Kids

Lionel moved to Spain when he was only 13 , but he built his life with someone he knew from his childhood in Rosario: Antonella Roccuzzo , longtime partner and eventual wife. Having known each other since they were five, they got together as teenagers when Messi was already in Barcelona.

The couple has three kids: Thiago , Mateo , and Ciro . The first was born in November 2012, the second in September 2015, while the third in March 2018. Antonella became popular on social media , where he shares pictures of her family as well as her healthy lifestyle to millions of followers.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi)

Soccer was part of Lionel Messi’s life since he was a kid . He started playing the sport with his older brother and their friends in his native Rosario. Despite being smaller and younger than the rest , he was good enough to play with bigger boys.

It didn’t take long for him to start playing ‘formally’, being coached by his father at local club Grandoli when he was just five. A few years later, Messi hit his first big break when he joined the academy of Rosario giants Newell’s Old Boys , a top-tier football club.

An Expensive Treatment

Messi has always been shorter than his peers, so at some point in his childhood it became normal to see the rest being taller than him. But as he grew up, that became increasingly noticeable and it started to call the family’s attention . When he was just 11, Messi was diagnosed by doctors with a growth hormone deficiency (GHD) . This condition that barred his growth could be treated but it wasn’t cheap .

The Failed Interest from River Plate

Messi had to receive growth-hormone injections every night, but the medical bills quickly became too expensive for the family. His talent, however, continued to make noise and it eventually caught the eye of domestic powerhouse River Plate .

Unfortunately, River was unwilling to cover his medical treatment, which is why nothing materialized. However, a greater opportunity was in store for Messi.

A Life-Changing Opportunity 

A trial at FC Barcelona was just the beginning of something bigger for Leo, who made such an impression on coach Carles Rexach that the Spanish giants secured his signature as soon as they could. In fact, Barca were so desperate to acquire Messi that his first contract was signed on a paper napkin . On top of that, the Catalans took care of his expensive medical treatment.

At only 13, Messi joined Barcelona youth academy, called La Masia . His father Jorge supported Leo from the very beginning, moving with him to Spain while the rest of the family stayed in Rosario. Though adjusting to a new country was something new for him, Messi didn’t struggle to perform at his new club and went on to climb up the ranks until making his first team debut in 2005.

First Years (2004-2008)

Messi was promoted to the senior squad as a teenager and made his first team debut at only 17 years old , becoming the then youngest player to don the FC Barcelona uniform. 

Messi played his first official match for the club on October 16, 2004, coming on for Deco in the 82nd minute of a LaLiga fixture against Espanyol . That season, Messi also became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the Spanish top-flight.

A Big Decision: Argentina or Spain?

Messi’s progress at the Catalan outfit caught the eye of the Spanish national team, which tried to convince him to represent its youth teams. Messi, who had been given Spanish citizenship, declined the offer as he remained attached to his Argentine roots .

Nightmare International Debut

Having helped La Albiceleste win the U-20 World Cup, Messi made his senior international debut for Argentina in a friendly match on August 17, 2005—but nothing went according to plan. Only 43 seconds after coming on in the second half against Hungary , the 18-year-old Messi saw the red card for elbowing a rival in his neck while running towards the goal.

First World Cup (2006)

However, Messi managed to leave that behind and went on to be part of the Argentina roster for the 2006 World Cup, where he became the youngest Argentine player to play and score in FIFA’s flagship competition . His first goal in a World Cup came in a 5-0 victory against Serbia and Montenegro in the group stage. Argentina was eliminated by Germany in the quarterfinals, and people still question Jose Pekerman’s decision not to field Messi that day.

Olympic Success (2008)

But from then on, Messi became a regular starter in the national team. Following a painful defeat in the 2007 Copa America final, the rising Barcelona star led his country to an Olympic gold medal in Beijing 2008 . After the Summer Olympics , Messi’s club career reached new heights .

Rise To Stardom (2009)

Though Messi was part of the Barcelona roster that won the double in the 2005-06 season and established himself as starter in the next two years, his breakout season came in the 2008-09 campaign . With Ronaldinho gone, Messi emerged as the new superstar of Barcelona.

That year, Messi took his game to the next level by helping Barcelona secure the first “treble” in club history . That means winning the best three tournaments at stake: UEFA Champions League, LaLiga, and Copa del Rey . The treble-winning team led by Pep Guardiola is widely considered as the best team of all time, and Leo played a pivotal role in its success.

Sextuple Year, First Ballon d’Or

With nine goals in 12 Champions League games (including the game-winner in the final against Manchester United), 23 goals in 31 league matches and six in eight Copa del Rey affairs, Messi made a strong case to win the first Ballon d’Or in his career . 

On top of that, Barca ended up securing the first sextuple in soccer history : Champions League, LaLiga, Copa del Rey, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and Spanish Super Cup. However, the best was yet to come.

Making The History Books (2012)

2012 was a historic, record-breaking year for Messi. After becoming the first player to score five goals in a single Champions League game, Messi surpassed Cesar Rodriguez (232 goals) as Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer scoring a hat trick against Granada . 

On top of that, he also broke Gerd Muller ’s 39-year record of 85 goals in a calendar year (1972), recording 91 goals in 2012 . Far from being jealous, Muller said: "My record stood for 40 years—85 goals in 60 games—and now the best player in the world has broken it, and I'm delighted for him. He is an incredible player, gigantic."

Needless to say, that wonderful year earned Messi his fourth consecutive Ballon d’Or award, becoming the first player in history to win the prize on four occasions.

Tough Years with the National Team (2010-2018)

While Messi enjoyed worldwide recognition for his fantastic performances at FC Barcelona, he didn’t get the same kind of love in his home country . Though many Argentine fans admired Leo, his lack of success with the national team while he thrived in Spain made him a subject of criticism by the local media. In addition, he was also constantly compared with Diego Maradona.

To be fair, no other team could match what Barcelona did under Pep Guardiola. Regardless, Messi was made a scapegoat for Argentina’s failures in those years. He had blossomed as a Ballon d’Or player at Barcelona, but he couldn’t carry his level to the international stage.

2010 World Cup

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa was the first big blow in Messi’s international career. Not only was Argentina destroyed by Germany in the quarterfinals, but Messi ended the tournament without scoring a single goal . The team didn’t arrive to that competition in a good spot, but the expectations around Messi were still much higher.

2011 Copa America

Things only got worse in the 2011 Copa America . Despite being the host country, Argentina left a lot to be desired by losing in the quarterfinals against Uruguay. That tournament was particularly harsh for Messi, who was whistled by the home crowd as he finished the tournament goalless.

2014 World Cup

His image started to improve on the road to Brazil 2014, getting on the scoresheet from the very first game and putting the team on his back en route to the World Cup final . However, Argentina’s heartbreaking loss to Germany meant that Messi had yet to silence his haters, even though he won the Golden Ball award—given to the player of the tournament.

2015 Copa America

Despite the progress made in that World Cup, Messi had once again taken many steps back in his relationship with Argentinian fans and media. International glory continued to elude Messi in the 2015 Copa America, when his side lost to Chile in the final. But Messi hit rock bottom the following year .

Copa America Centenario (2016)

Having shone throughout the Copa America Centenario —held in the US in 2016 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the competition—it looked like Messi’s first piece of silverware with the Argentina national team was inevitable. But once again, Argentina finished runner-up as Chile stood on its way. This time it was even more traumatic for Messi, who missed his spot-kick in the penalty shootout .

A devastated Messi was seen crying after the loss, as his and Argentina’s wait for an international success extended. Having reached his lowest point since playing for his country, Messi said postgame he would quit the national team. The haters were still there, and their comments were even louder after that final, but many Argentinians were in shock as they saw their idol at an all-time low .  

Fortunately, Messi changed his mind a few months later . That doesn’t mean that things became easier, though.

Troubled Road to Russia 2018

Argentina struggled on their way to the 2018 World Cup. The soccer federation went through significant changes in its hierarchy, while the team had three different coaches throughout the qualifiers. In the end, Argentina clinched a spot in Russia thanks to a hat trick from Messi in the final round.

Disappointing World Cup

Argentina didn’t arrive in Russia in high spirits, and it proved costly . Messi missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw against Iceland, which was followed by an ugly loss to Croatia . The Barcelona star helped his side beat Nigeria to avoid a group stage exit, but Argentina then lost to eventual champions France . 

This time, the blame didn’t fall on Messi, as Jorge Sampaoli did a terrible job as head coach. Still, it was yet another sour World Cup for the best player on Earth. In all those years, Messi had better luck at Barcelona—but soon he would experience bad times there as well .

Last Successful Years with Barcelona

2013 was complicated for Messi. The soccer machine spent months on the sidelines with hamstring injuries but found a way to come back stronger, becoming the all-time top scorer in both La Liga and Champions League in 2014.

The 2014-15 was the last great season for Messi and Barcelona, as the club repeated the treble that year with a powerful offensive trio of striker Luis Suarez, Messi and Neymar . Additionally, the Argentine footballer regained the FIFA Ballon d’Or after losing to Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013 and 2014. 

Barcelona Goes Downhill (2018-2020)

Barcelona went through a tough period from 2018 to 2020, suffering humiliating Champions League eliminations in consecutive years. Roma , Liverpool , and Bayern have all handed Barca painful defeats , preventing them from making the final.

On top of that, the club started to experience financial problems with Josep Maria Bartomeu ’s board. All those woes combined almost drove Messi away from Barcelona. The Argentine footballer looked ready to leave in 2020 as a free agent, but it turned out that his contract didn’t allow it. 

Barcelona Farewell (2021)

Messi had no option but to stay for the 2020-21 season, his toughest year at the club. Once again, Leo was one of the few bright spots of the team but it was still a lackluster campaign as Barca was demolished by PSG in the Champions League and finished third in LaLiga.

Messi had entered the final year of his contract, but his mood had changed as Bartomeu left. Joan Laporta won the elections and, even with all the financial problems that struck the club, the outlook was much better. Therefore, though Messi became a free agent at the end of the season, he looked ready to re-sign .

However, in a shocking turn of events, the club told Messi he couldn’t be registered in LaLiga due to salary cap rules. And just like that, Messi left . Ironically, while he went through the hardest days at Barcelona, Messi finally found happiness with Argentina.

Redemption with Argentina (2019-2022)

It took a long time, but Messi changed the narrative with the Argentine national team. A mature Leo had emerged as the face of the team’s reconstruction under Lionel Scaloni after the 2018 World Cup. The team finished third in the 2019 Copa America, and from then on, there was no turning back.

Argentina strengthened itself in South America, getting off to a positive start to the Qualifiers. A new generation of players had come and Messi started to feel more comfortable with them. Eventually, Argentina started to string good results together and it proved a point in the 2021 Copa America.

2021 Copa America Triumph

Messi’s wait for an elusive international title came to an end in epic fashion, with Argentina beating rivals and host country Brazil in the final at the Maracana . La Albiceleste ended a 28-year drought, and Messi achieved his first major success with the senior national team .

Since then, Messi has received nothing but love from the Argentine community . Besides, he continued to lead the team en route to a Qatar 2022 berth and a memorable Finalissima trophy. 

Qatar 2022: The Wait Comes to an End

At Qatar 2022, the inevitable finally happened: Lionel Messi got his hands on the coveted FIFA World Cup trophy. In one of the best performances ever seen in tournament history, the 35-year-old broke all kinds of records to emulate Maradona and take Argentina back to the promised land. For many, the GOAT debate should no longer exist : with this title, Messi is widely regarded as the best soccer player ever.

A New Adventure in Paris (2021)

While enjoying the best moment in his international career, Messi had to make a big decision: Barcelona was no longer his club, and he had many offers on the table. In the end, Lionel signed a two-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021.

Though the expectations in the French capital were through the roof, Messi struggled in his first season at the Parc des Princes . The team won the Ligue 1 , but its early Champions League defeat to Real Madrid—in addition to Messi’s poor goalscoring record—made Messi target of criticism by PSG fans and French media. Messi got off to a much better start next season, replacing whistles for standing ovations.

Named World Player of the Year several times, Messi is widely considered as one of, if not the best soccer player of his generation. Many compare him with Cristiano Ronaldo , but for others they are not even in the same tier . Some believe Messi deserves to be compared to the likes of Pele or Maradona, but his true fans think he’s even better than any other player in history.

Renowned personalities in world soccer only have good things to say about Messi. For instance, Josep Guardiola: " Nobody can sit at Messi's table . He scores 60 or 70 goals per season, always in the big games; he plays every three days and never gets injured. He has his body under total control. He's the best player I've ever seen." However, Messi’s honors speak for themselves . 

List of Messi’s Awards

Club titles, fc barcelona.

• Champions League : 4 (2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15)
• LaLiga : 10 (2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19)
• Copa del Rey : 7 (2009, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021)
• Club World Cup : 3 (2009, 2011, 2015)
• UEFA Super Cup : 3 (2010, 2012, 2016)
• Supercopa de España : 8 (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019)
• Ligue 1 : 1 (2021-22)
• Trophée des Champions : 1 (2022)

International Titles

• FIFA World Cup : 1 (2022)
• Copa America : 1 (2021)
• Finalissima : 1 (2022)
• Olympic Gold Medal : 1 (2008)
• U-20 World Cup : 1 (2005)

Individual Honors

• Ballon d’Or : 7 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021)
• FIFA World Player of the Year : 1 (2009)
• The Best Award : 1 (2019)
• European Golden Shoe : 6 (2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19)
• Pichichi LaLiga : 7 (2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21)
• MVP LaLiga : 9 (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19)
• Champions League top scorer : 6 (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2018-19)
• World Cup Golden Ball: 2 (2014, 2022)
• UEFA Men’s Player of the Year : 2 (2010-11, 2014-15)
• Golden Boy : 1 (2005)
• MVP Copa America : 1 (2021)
• All-time top goalscorer at same club
• FC Barcelona all-time top scorer
• All-time leading goalscorer of Argentina
• Argentina’s top scorer at World Cups
• First player to score in all knockout rounds of a World Cup
• Most games played at the FIFA World Cup
• All-time top scorer in LaLiga
• Top scorer in the 21st century
• Top scorer in El Clasico
• All time international top scorer in South America
• Most games played for FC Barcelona
• Most games played with Argentina
• Most trophies won at FC Barcelona
• Most goals in a LaLiga season (50)
• Most decorated Argentine player

Though his many awards already speak for themselves, Messi’s stats continue to prove why he made a strong case to be considered the best football player of all time. 

Overall stats

• Games : 1003
• Goals : 793
• Assists : 350
• Cards : 95 (3 red cards)
• Opponents : 165
• Coefficient: 1.531
• Penalties: 108
• Free Kicks: 60
• Assists: 350
• Opponents: 102
• Players: 81
• Competitions: 11

* Source: MessiStats

Conclusions

The comparisons will always be there, whether it is fair or not. Either way, Lionel Messi has certainly given reasons to be regarded as one of the greatest soccer players the game has ever seen . 

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Lionel Messi

Football Player (1987-)

Lionel Messi is often considered not only the best active football player in the world but also one of the greatest of all time, alongside legends such as Maradona and Pelé. In addition to being awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or prize a record five times, Leo has become the all-time top goalscorer for both Argentina’s national team and FC Barcelona, the mega club he has helped to win more than 30 championships. While Messi is a household name across most of the globe, the superstar forward also surprises with his relatively low profile off the field.

Lionel Messi Biography

«I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I’m more concerned about being a good person than being the best footballer in the world. Besides, in the end, when all this is over, what can you take with you? My hope is that, when I retire, I’m remembered for being a good guy.»  (Extract from interview with Spanish newspaper “El País” in 2012)

Lionel Andrés Messi (aka Leo, Lio, La Pulga [The Flea], La Pulga Atómica [The Atomic Flea], El Messías ) was born on June 24, 1987 in the Argentine city of Rosario. He was raised with three siblings in a working-class neighbourhood known as Barrio General Las Heras. At the age of 5, he started playing for the Grandoli, a small local club in which his family was actively involved. By the time Leo turned 8, he was already playing for the youth academy of Newell’s Old Boys, a major professional squad based in Rosario.

Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Lionel Messi was eventually diagnosed as suffering from a growth hormone deficiency. His father unsuccessfully turned to several Argentine football clubs seeking financial aid for an expensive treatment, which almost jeopardized the promising career he envisaged for Leo.

Over the following years, Lionel Messi continued to break record after record to emerge as the top class player for Barcelona and the world at large. Messi’s personal best campaign statistically to date was the 2011–12 season, in which he set the Spanish and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barça’s all-time top scorer in official competitions. Following each appearance, the Argentine left-footed star proved to be versatile enough to play anywhere across the frontline and to mesmerize defenders with a mix of skill and pace.

At the international level, Lionel Messi chose to represent homeland Argentina, rather than Spain, despite his dual citizenship. He made his debut with Argentina’s senior team in 2004 and has been the squad’s captain since 2011. Titles won include FIFA’s U-20 World Cup in 2005 and the Olympic Gold Medal in 2008. In June 2016, Leo became Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta’s previous mark of 54 goals.

Off the field, Lionel Messi has been actively involved in charitable efforts aimed at vulnerable children, partly in response to his own medical difficulties as a child. Apart from collaborating with UNICEF with funds and personally as a goodwill ambassador, he also runs the Leo Messi Foundation, which supports children in health care, education, and sport.

Lionel Messi is married to fellow Rosario native Antonela Roccuzzo. They have known each other since Leo was five years old, but only began going out in 2008. The couple has since had three sons: Thiago (2012), Mateo (2015), and Ciro (2018).

Messi Goals and Other Career Stats

Games and goals per team*.

* As of 30 June 2018. Barcelona senior club games and goals counted for the domestic league only.

TITLES WON (34*)

* As of 30 June 2018. With Argentina’s national team, Messi has also been the runner-up in four championships: Copa America 2007, FIFA World Cup 2014, Copa America 2015 and Copa America Centenario 2016.

MAIN AWARDS AND INDIVIDUAL RECORDS

* The Ballon d’Or (French for “Golden Ball”) is an annual football award presented by France Football magazine . It has been granted since 1956, although between 2010 and 2015 it temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or. Originally, only those players with European citizenship were in contention for the Ballon d’Or, but in 1995 it was expanded to include all players at European clubs and in 2007 to all players from around the world.

Best Lionel Messi Goals (2007-2017)

Tributes to Messi

In buenos aires, argentina.

Statue in Recoleta ( Av. Pres. Manuel Quintana 600 , Recoleta, City of Buenos Aires) By the doorstep of iconic Porteño cafe La Biela lies a colorful Messi statue. He is depicted pointing his fingers towards the sky, Leo’s typical goal dedication to his grandmother.

Statue in Puerto Madero (Costanera Sur, Puerto Madero, City of Buenos Aires)   Lionel Messi’s statue was unveiled in 2016 in the so-called “Paseo de la Gloria” (Passage of Glory) along promenade Costanera Sur, in the Buenos Aires district of Puerto Madero. The passage pays homage to several of Argentina’s sporting greats. Unfortunately, some statues — including Messi’s — have been targeted by vandals.

In Rosario, Argentina

Murals in Rosario   Suprisingly enough, the city that is home to both Lionel Messi and Che Guevara lacks decent tributes to its prodigal sons. As refers to Leo there are some murals in his childhood neighborhood, including an artpiece by Paulo Consentino on a wall outside his school, as well as paintings close to his old house and on the walls of a soccer field where he used to play.

Restaurant in Rosario ( Rioja 411 , Rosario) Bar VIP Rosario is a well-known, well-located restaurant in Rosario, owned by Jorge Messi, Leo’s father. The place serves typical Argentine meals and features a couple of photomurals of el crack .

in barcelona, SPAIN

Mural in Barcelona (Parc de les Tres Xemeneies, Poble Sec, Barcelona)   In 2016, a colourful mural popped up in Barcelona in celebration of Lionel Messi’s fifth Ballon d’Or . A few years earlier, in 2012, another Messi-themed grafitti had been painted on the same wall on occasion of Leo’s third Golden Ball.

Re s taurant in Barcelona  (Enric Granados 86, Barcelona, Spain) A tribute brought by Messi and his siblings to their hometown, Rosario, “Bellavista del Jardín del Norte” is a beautiful restaurant that resembles a small village, with its own church, plaza, cinema, and barbershop. It serves up an interesting mix of international cuisines, from Spain’s most evocative tapas to Lionel Messi’s favorite Argentine dish, “milanesa napolitana a caballo” (breaded veal accompanied by ham, cheese, egg and tomato sauce).

International

Wax Statues   Lionel Messi has been immortalized in wax in several Madame Tussaud’s museums across the globe, including London, New York, Berlin, Amsterdam, Beijing, Tokyo and Wuhan.  In New York, Messi’s figure is placed in an interactive simulator where visitors can practice their best kick in a virtual soccer arena.

Cinema  Messi (2014 film) is a documentary about Leo’s life, directed by cult Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia. On the other hand, Messi (2017 film) is a movie by Bengali director Riingo Banerjee, in which Lionel Messi’s remembrance serves as a metaphor for the intense passions aroused by football.

Lionel Messi

• Born June 24 , 1987 · Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina
• Birth name Lionel Andrés Messi
• The G.O.A.T
• Height 5′ 6½″ (1.69 m)
• Lionel Messi is a football player from Argentina who plays for Inter Miami. He has won the Ballon D'Or, the annual award given to the best player in the world, 8 times, 2022 FIFA World Cup winner and an Olympic gold medal winner in 2008. He was born in 1987 in Rosario, Argentina's third-biggest city. He showed an enormous aptitude for football and was in the youth teams for Newell's Old Boys, his local team. Faced with mounting medical expenses to treat a growth hormone condition, Messi's family accepted an offer to move the 13-year-old prodigy to FC Barcelona, who would pay for his treatment. Messi has gone on to become one of the most decorated players in football history and has broken countless records for his club and his country. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Amazon Studios
• Lionel Messi is an Argentine professional footballer. He plays as a forward and captain both Inter Miami C.F. and the Argentina National Football Team . Considered the best player in the world and regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with FC Barcelona , where he has won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League (1992) titles and six Copas del Rey. Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (1992) (8). He has scored over 900 senior career goals for club and country. An Argentine international, Messi is his country's all-time leading goalscorer. At youth level, he won the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2005 (2005) , finishing the tournament with both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and an Olympic gold medal at the Beijing 2008: Games of the XXIX Olympiad (2008) . After his senior debut in August 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany (2006) , and reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the tournament. As the squad's captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (2014) , for which he won the Golden Ball, and the Copa América 2015 (2015) and Copa América Centenario (2016) . After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision and led his country to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia (2018) , and a third-place finish at the Copa América Brasil 2019 (2019) . In the 1/8 finals match of 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia (2018) against the future winner of the tournament, France National Football Team , Messi gave two assists, but the Argentines lost with a score of 3:4 and ended their participation in the tournament. On July 10, 2021 the Argentina National Football Team beat Brazil in the final of Copa America 2021 (2021) with a score of 1:0. Thus, Lionel Messi won his first trophy with the national team. He also became the tournament's top scorer (shared with Luis Fernando Díaz from Colombia). In the final match of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar (2022) against France in the first half, Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Regular time ended with the score 2:2, at the beginning of the second extra period Messi put Argentina ahead. However, Kylian Mbappé managed to level the score from the penalty spot, scoring his third goal of the game (3:3). In the penalty shoot-out, Messi was the first to beat for Argentines and converted his shot. As a result, the Argentines won the series with a score of 4:2 and became three-time world champions. Messi was named the best player of the match and was also named the best player of the tournament overall. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tango Papa
• Spouse Roccuzzo Antonela (June 30, 2017 - present) (3 children)
• Children Thiago Messi Mateo Messi Ciro Messi
• Parents Jorge Horacio Messi Celia Cuccittini
• Relatives Marcela Cuccittini (Aunt or Uncle) Emanuel Biancucchi (Cousin) Rodrigo Messi (Sibling) María Sol Messi (Sibling)
• Short stature
• Number 10 shirt for FC Barcelona and Argentina
• Won the gold medal with Argentina Olympic Football Team at the 2008 Olympic Games.
• Won 8 Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or (2009-2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023), the FIFA World Player of the Year (2009) and The Best FIFA Men's Player (2019).
• Won the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup with Argentina National Under-20 Football Team . He was the leading scorer and the best player of the competition.
• Is the second Argentine to win a Ballon d'Or. The first being Alfredo Di Stéfano .
• 778 appearances for FC Barcelona (2004-2021); scored 672 goals.
• Sometimes you have to accept you can't win all the time.
• There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.
• You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.
• You have to show up in the World Cup, and in the World Cup anything can happen.
• I always thought I wanted to play professionally, and I always knew that to do that I'd have to make a lot of sacrifices. I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people. Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream.

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Lionel Messi, one of the world's greatest football players, is an example I gentle conduct. Friends, Messi's life story is also one of a person who overcomes all the challenges on his path. Some information about Lionel Messi is as follows - Name (Real Name) Lionel Messi Profession Argentine professional footballer Nationality Argentina Professional debut in football August 4, 2004, against Hungary jersey number 10 Zodiac Aquarius Coach/Mentor Salvador Aparicio, Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola Position Forward Hometown Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina Religion Roman Catholic Date of Birth 24 June 1987 Name of the father Jorge Horacio Messi Name of the mother Celia Maria Katchitini Name of the brothers Mattias Messi and Rodrigo Messi are their brothers. Name of the sister Maria Sol Messi Name of his wife Antonella Roccuzzo Date of marriage June 30, 2017 Messi son name Thiago Messi and Matteo Messi Life and Struggle Despite being from a middle-class family and being born in Argentina on June 24, 1987, Lionel Messi frequently had a difficult upbringing. His mother was a working woman and his father, Jorge Messi, was a steel mill manager. Messi's parents were passionate football supporters, which led to their kids developing a love for the sport at an early age. 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. Messi's father would teach him personally after seeing that his son had a desire and talent for the game. George maintained Leo's training; He performed as a model dad by doing everything he could to raise his son despite financial constraints. 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 soccer skill. 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. He was a huge football fan. He used to work on himself constantly. Every day, he was getting better. He started playing when he was just eight years old, during that very young age when he got the football in his strike and the players who were playing beside him. It would have taken around 15 to 20 minutes to take the football away from him. The local populace used to throw money for joy when they saw his game. His potential as a football player was evident to his family. He was really content with his life. He was enjoying it immensely. He wanted to play football professionally when he grew up, so he represented his country. Because of Messi, the Argentinean government was compelled to pass a novel law a few years ago. As a result, no parent in Argentina was permitted to name their child Messi. Due to Messi's excessive fame, the administration believed Messi's name would be given to many kids, and identity issues might result from that. It was a future-focused decision. The government officially announced this news. Right now, the name Messi cannot be used as a middle name for children. Messi's name and resume are well-known to everybody. But the suffering Messi endured made him Messi. His worldwide fan base is in the millions. Over the years, football players and spectators have looked up to this outstanding and skilled player. Barcelona FC now has distinct fame due to its outstanding football success. His football skills are amazing. He gets large audiences to watch his games. Because of his football expertise, the audience is intrigued by Messi's background and success story. Naturally, Messi was not without his flaws. But he never stopped working to overcome them. He is currently one of the most well-known, highly compensated, and elite football players in the world due to his efforts. Family and Early Years of Lionel Messi On June 24, 1987, Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. He is also known as Lionel Andres Messi by full name . Messi's admirers jokingly refer to him as Leo, atomic flea, la pulga, la pulga Atomica, and Macedonia. His father, Jorge Horacio Messi, was a manager who worked at a steel mill. His mother, Celia Maria Cuccittini, was a housewife. Messi has two brothers, Rodrigo Messi is the older brother, and Matisse Messi is the name of his younger brother. He also has a sister Maria Sol Messi. Even though Massey's home was cash-strapped but his father remained adamant. He said he would provide his child with every amenity that would advance him. Messi loved to play with his elder brothers when he was younger. Messi loved spending time with his grandma as a youngster, who was always there to support him. He also received his first football uniform at the insistence of his grandma. At that time, his grandma wished for Messi to play football. At age 4, he became the first member of the neighborhood football team Granddoli. His grandmother always motivated him by saying "One day, Leo, you'll be the best football player in the world." Messi's Battle At the age of 4, Messi joined his first football team. Then, at 8, he began participating in football games for Newell's Old Boys in Rosario, his hometown. Football had already surpassed all the importance for Messi at this point. He once maintained an unbroken practice schedule day and night. 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 afterward, persuaded by his father, he picked up football again. Even when Messi goals today in a football match, he lifts both hands in memory of his grandma . Messi used to work as a storage server of tea and coffee during his spare time, after his football practice. So that he can also aid his family financially. 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. Despite the ruckus, Messi never felt defeated or frustrated. Even though his playing was always of the highest caliber compared to other youngsters his age, his height was not growing, but he was still doing quite well at football. Messi's medical bills are around $1000per per month, which was covered by insurance for two years. Messi, though, never gave up. He never allowed his spirits to falter, not even in the face of difficulties. He also never gave up and made an effort to advance constantly, and Messi never lost hope after facing several hardships in life. Personal Life Messi has a longterm 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 all thick and thins. They have two children together. Thiago Messi (was born on November 2, 2012) and their second child Mato Messi Ruccuzzo( was born on September 11, 2015). These two were not married th 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 daughter after getting married and named her Ciro Messi Roccuzzo. Initial Achievements Messi made his debut in the year 2000 and 2005 game seasons, breaking the record for the youngest player to ever play in the league and becoming the league's youngest goal scorer . Messi never looked back after that. Messi played for Argentina in the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2006 and the Argentine Olympic football squad; Messi won his first international honor-an Olympic gold medal-in Beijing in 2008. Messi had a wealth of talent, and everyone used to go wild seeing him play his game with such precision. Messi had a total of 49 goals scored during the 2009 campaign. One of Maradona's admirers of Messi exclaimed, "I see myself in Messi." Messi created history by scoring 200 La Liga goals at the age of just 25. He also made history by being the first football player to win the Tea Drinks award twice in a row. Lionel Messi makes his FC Barcelona Debut. Barcelona had heard about Messi and his battle. Someone informed FC Barcelona director Carles Rexach about his unbeatable talent in football. Then he added a stipulation that only applied if this guy proved to be talented. Therefore, all of his costs will be covered. He must, however, depart Argentina and travel to Spain. Messi's parents relocated to Barcelona. Carles Rexach saw Messi's game. He believed Messi had the talent and the drive to excel as a football player. Nevertheless, despite everything, nobody wanted to invest much money in a 13-year-old kid due to the exorbitant cost of Messi's care and other expenses. After significant consideration, he chose to back Messi. He didn't change anything and scribbled the contract on a napkin. Additionally, he made the offer to handle Messi's medical care. Messi joined the youth academy of the Barcelona team and is now credited for developing the talented footballer via training. Lionel Messi made the correct choice to take advantage of this opportunity. When he entered the club's changing room for the first time. Everyone was so dubious due to his diminutive height. After a couple of sessions, that uncertainty became a surprise. Messi advanced fast in Barcelona's framework. He started polishing his skills under the proper guidance. His therapy was also ongoing at the time. On one leg, injections would be given in every seven days. The following week on the opposite leg. Lionel Messi - First International Match for Barcelona Club First International Game for Barcelona Club, Lionel Messi earned his on-field appearance in 2003 when he was 16 years old and started playing for the Barça team. The Porto club was ahead of them. He was delighted by the instructor when he appeared before the crowd in his very first game. He was relentlessly pushed, yet he still scored sixes on four defenders. At the tender age of 18, he made his first appearance for his country against Hungary on August 17, 2005. He didn't look back after that. He kept raising the banner of achievement. Maradona, a legendary Argentine player, saw Messi play. He then declared- "I'm aware of that player. Who will play Argentine football in my place? Messi is his name. I can see hints of myself in his game". Lionel Messi Has Great Footballer Ronaldo's Support One of the most favorable events for Messi was when he had the opportunity to work alongside a great player like Ronaldo. Messi's performance at the time blew Ronaldo away. He also mentioned Messi that One day, this youngster will exceed me. Together, they contributed to numerous victories for Barcelona. Messi mentions Ronaldo in his statement, as I've mentioned before. He taught me a lot of things. I learned from what he did for me. For that, I shall be eternally thankful to him. I had the opportunity to use the same changing room as a renowned athlete. I usually feel fortunate for this. His smile will be in my memory forever. Lionel Messi's Achievements and Records Every year, Messi's performance improved. His outstanding performance during the 2008-09 season helped Barcelona win various titles for the third time. Messi's name is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most goals scored in a year in 2012 that year; he scored 91 goals . He broke the record held by legendary German player Gerd Muller. In 1972, Muller made a record mark by tallying 85 goals in a calendar year. Messi scored his 200th La Liga goal at the young age of 25, becoming him the youngest player to do so. He broke a milestone by becoming the first player to get four FIFA Awards in a row. Additionally, he is the first athlete to receive three European Golden Shoes. On February 16, 2013, Messi took the field for Barcelona. His 300th goal was scored. In Spanish La Liga, he is the only player with 300 goals. Argentina reached the World Cup final in 2014, thanks to his captaincy. He received the honour of the Golden Ball in recognition of his outstanding achievement. With a total salary of $127 million in 2019, Messi topped the list of Forbes's highest-paid athletes in the world. In addition, Messi established other records that no player will find it simple to break them. World best footballer for 7 th time In July 2021, Messi led Argentina to the Copa America Cup championship. He scored four goals, which put him in a tie for the team lead. He assisted in five goals being scored while there. In addition, Messi led Barcelona in goals scored in the Spanish division of La Liga. However, the team came in third. For Barcelona, he scored twice in the Copa del Rey championship. In 2021, Messi won the Ballon d'Or trophy for the most outstanding player for a record seventh time. The French football magazine "Ballon d'Or" has granted this award to the finest footballer every year since 1956, even though covid-19 made it impossible to conduct the ceremony the previous year. Messi has frequently been coveted to play for other football clubs with significant funds. But he has consistently been committed to Barcelona FC. He is among the world's highest-paid football players. His annual base compensation was reportedly 16 million euros in 2018. Additionally, he is worth 110 million euros. After basketball player LeBourne James and football legend Cristiano Ronaldo, this demonstrates that Messi is the second-best-paid athlete in the world and the third highest-paid soccer player. Being regarded as the greatest football player of all time, he has emerged as the public face of huge brands like Turkish Airlines, Adidas, Pepsi, and EA Sports. Lionel Messi Controversy He was discovered to have been engaged in the following controversies: He was under scrutiny in 2013 for possible tax evasion. His identity was also disclosed in the 2016 Panama Papers data breach. In addition, he was the subject of criticism after declaring his retirement from international football due to his defeat at the Copa America competition. Messi was arrested off the football pitch in July 2016 after a Barcelona court found him and his father guilty of three tax fraud charges. During the four-day trial, Messi and his father argued that they had not broken any laws and were unaware of tax fraud. He received a 21-month sentence, nevertheless. According to Spanish legislation, Messi and his father would have to pay a fine of 2 million euros if the charges were suspended within two years instead of going to jail. In this way, he experienced various difficulties throughout his professional life. We may learn from Lionel Messi's life how someone can achieve success by conquering the challenges in his path with willpower and talent. However, you must pay attention, and when anything awful happens in your life, you should care about finding a solution rather than panicking. Send your Feedback to [email protected] Help Others, Please Share Learn Latest Tutorials Transact-SQL Reinforcement Learning R Programming React Native Python Design Patterns Python Pillow Python Turtle Preparation Interview Questions Company Questions Trending Technologies Artificial Intelligence Cloud Computing Data Science Machine Learning B.Tech / MCA Data Structures Operating System Computer Network Compiler Design Computer Organization Discrete Mathematics Ethical Hacking Computer Graphics Software Engineering Web Technology Cyber Security C Programming Control System Data Mining Data Warehouse ‘The Lionel Messi Experience’ is an interactive showcase of all things Messi Show more sharing options Copy Link URL Copied! Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the best soccer players of their generation — and maybe any generation — and there really isn’t much separating the two. Ronaldo has scored more goals, but Messi has won more World Cups. Ronaldo has more Champions League titles, but Messi has more league championships. Ronaldo has his own self-funded museum ... and now Messi has “ The Messi Experience: A Dream Come True ,” a unique multimedia look at the Argentine’s life and career. The Los Angeles exhibition, which opens Friday in a 30,000-square-foot studio and event space near where the Glendale and Golden State freeways intersect, takes visitors on an immersive, interactive exploration of everything Messi, from a recreation of his childhood bedroom in his family’s humble home in Rosario, Argentina, through his triumphs with Barcelona and the Argentina national team. At one point in the exhibition, a phone rings and the speaker on the other end of the line invites the 13-year-old Messi to come to Spain, launching his unparalleled career. In another place the exhibition explores his short-lived and emotional decision to resign from the national team. “It’s super important that when you learn about his life you know it wasn’t all great,” said David Rosenfeld, co-founder of Primo Entertainment, a Miami-based company that worked with Messi to put the exhibition together. “So he takes you on that roller coaster. The empowerment that we’re trying to show here, especially for kids, is never give up and it could happen. That’s kind of the message.” The exhibition features nine interactive installations as well as thematic installations and physical games. Rosenfeld said planning for “The Messi Experience” began more than 2 ½ years ago, before the player’s greatest triumph, Argentina’s World Cup win in Qatar in 2022, and before his move to Inter Miami and MLS last summer. But those events necessarily forced some alterations. The tour opens with a recreation of Argentina’s victory parade through the streets of Buenos Aires while in another room there is a much-larger-than-life replica of the World Cup trophy Messi kissed after Argentina defeated France on penalty kicks. Lionel Messi transforms L.A. into a star-studded celebration of soccer In front of 27,642 fans, many wearing Lionel Messi jerseys, the Galaxy settle for a tie in their season opener when Messi scores late for Inter Miami. Feb. 25, 2024 “We would have done it regardless,” Rosenfeld said. “Obviously him winning the World Cup and coming to Miami exponentially helped everything. But he was already Messi. “We were confident with the fact that he was such a big brand and he was such a big athlete, this was going to be successful.” Rosenfeld said Messi did not oversee the design of the exhibition nor what’s included, but he did participate in the creation of certain installations and signed off on the project. “It’s an experience based on his life and his career so he had to have a hand in what’s told, how it’s told,” Rosenfeld said. “He was a big part of it.” An identical “Messi Experience” opened April 25 in Miami and has drawn more than 50,000 visitors, Rosenfeld said. Another exhibition will open in Buenos Aires next month. More to Read SoFi Stadium passes the grass and atmosphere test among players as World Cup looms June 25, 2024 Copa América 2024 bigger than European Championship? Lionel Messi knows it is June 19, 2024 Rafa Márquez, Mexico’s greatest soccer player, is the subject of a new Netflix documentary June 18, 2024 Kevin Baxter writes about soccer and hockey for the Los Angeles Times. He has covered seven World Cups, four Olympic Games, six World Series and a Super Bowl and has contributed to three Pulitzer Prize-winning series at The Times and Miami Herald. An essay he wrote in fifth grade was voted best in the class. He has a cool dog. More From the Los Angeles Times LAFC’s Tomás Ángel hopes to continue following his father’s path Copa América: Costa Rica and Brazil play to scoreless draw at SoFi Stadium June 24, 2024 Christian Pulisic leads U.S. to victory over Bolivia in Copa América opener June 23, 2024 Angel City FC Angel City can’t keep pace with Tess Boade and Bay FC in loss June 22, 2024 Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement Services & Software Copa America 2024 Soccer: Livestream Argentina vs. Canada From Anywhere Lionel Messi and co. get the 48th edition of the Americas' biggest soccer tournament underway in Atlanta against the Canucks. The action gets underway at the 2024 Copa America on Thursday, as defending champs and current World Cup holders Argentina take on Canada in this opening fixture in Atlanta.  Currently ranked the No. 1 team in the world, Lionel Scaloni's Argentina are favorites to make it three major tournament wins in a row in what some pundits are predicting will be star man Lionel Messi's last dance for the national side.  They kick off their campaign against a Canadian team that had contrasting fortunes in their two warmup games in Europe ahead of this tournament. Jesse Marsch's men suffered a demoralizing 4-0 defeat to the Netherlands before earning a creditable goalless draw against France.  Argentina take on Canada on Thursday, June 20, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Kick-off is at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT in the US and Canada . That makes it a  1 a.m. BST  start in the UK and a  10   a.m. AEST   kick-off in Australia on Friday morning. Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch every game live, no matter where you are in the world. Lionel Messi has scored 13 goals for Argentina in the Copa America during his career. Livestream Argentina vs. Canada in the US without cable As with  UEFA Euro 2024 , which is taking place at the same time in Germany, Fox is where it's at for US soccer fans looking to watch Copa America 2024 matches. The tournament's matches will be split across Fox and Fox Sports 1, with this match on FS1. All 32 matches will also be available to watch with Spanish-language commentary on TUDN, Univision or UniMás. If you don't have the channels as part of your cable lineup, both can be streamed via Sling TV.  Watch Copa America 2024 soccer on Fox Sling TV's Blue plan includes Fox and FS1, making it a great option for those wanting to watch international soccer action. It's $40 a month ($45 in some places) and includes over 40 channels, including other sports channels like ESPN. How to watch Argentina vs. Canada online from anywhere using a VPN If you find yourself unable to view Copa America 2024 matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the tournament -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN , make it really easy to do this. Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions. Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now. Best VPN for streaming ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick  for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code  SPECIALDEAL , which should be automatically applied. Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Livestream Argentina vs. Canada in the UK and Ireland All 32 Copa America matches will be broadcast exclusively in Ireland and the UK on Premier Sports. The service has recently reverted back to its old name in the UK after a brief spell under the ViaPlay banner. Premier Sports Watch international football in the uk from £10. You'll need to be a subscriber to the Premier Sports Pack to watch its football coverage, which is priced at £10 per month for Sky customers and £13 for viewers on Virgin TV.  You can also get Premier Sports on its own via Amazon Prime Video for an extra £15 a month.  Pricing starts at 12 euros for subscribers in Ireland.  Livestream Copa America 2024 games in Canada Canadian soccer fans can watch the tournament via TSN and its streaming service TSN Plus. Existing TSN cable subscribers can watch at no extra charge using the details of their TV provider. Carries Copa America 2024 TSN Plus is a direct-streaming service that costs CA$8 a month and offers coverage of PGA Tour Live golf, NFL games, F1, Nascar and the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. Livestream Copa America 2024 game in Australia Football fans Down Under can also watch all the action on streaming service Optus Sport.  Optus Sport Watch international soccer in australia from au$7 a month. With exclusive rights to screen every English Premier League match live, as well as German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga games and international fixtures, streaming service Optus Sport is a particularly big draw for Aussie soccer fans. If you're already an Optus network customer you can bag Optus Sport for a reduced price, with discounts bringing the price down to as low as AU$7 per month. If you're not, a standalone monthly subscription to the service starts at AU$25. Quick tips for streaming Copa America 2024 using a VPN  With four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- your experience and success when streaming Copa America matches may vary. If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option. If you're having trouble getting the game after you've turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs -- like Roku -- don't have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location. All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.  And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend  Brave . 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Each month seemingly, and sometimes each week, yet another filmed player documentary drops on a streaming service that you may or may not subscribe to. The success of Challengers, the Zendaya-led tennis movie that is not really a tennis movie at all , has put stock back into the sport’s cultural currency, and the real-life stars of the sport are in on it too. Advertisement The latest and biggest entry into the tennis media canon is Federer: Twelve Final Days, which offers an inside look at the last sliver of the Swiss great’s wondrous career. Many tears are shed, as Federer, his family, and the contemporary greats of tennis reflect on what it means to retire from a sport whose pinnacle you have largely defined for more than half your life. Directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia, it opens a window into the emotional toll that retirement took on Federer and his loved ones, especially wife Mirka, as he bowed out at the Laver Cup in September 2022 alongside his friends and rivals, hoisted into the air on the shoulders of those who spent nearly two decades trying, and mostly failing, to beat him. Federer is a leader in the sport, but he is anything but a pioneer in this media environment. Tennis players, as international celebrities who appeal to both men and women, have been gobbling up film deals in recent years. Netflix has a camera crew following Carlos Alcaraz these days and will be releasing a film about his rise in the coming years. Novak Djokovic has been developing a documentary — including purported conversations with the team behind Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance — for years. Naomi Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion who is mounting her comeback following maternity leave, first released a TV series about her journey in 2021. Ons Jabeur dropped a documentary in January — and if you want to know what it’s like for an athlete to be forced to re-watch one of the most painful moments of her career, check out Jabeur seeing herself lose a second consecutive Wimbledon final last year. She doesn’t make it all the way through.  “H e wants to catch that part of me not wanting to watch it,” Jabeur said earlier this year of the film’s director. “It was, like, ‘OK, good job. You got the scene. Let’s move on’.”   In 2022, John McEnroe released a quasi-documentary (his agent, Gary Swain, was an executive producer); Boris Becker participated in one last year. Iga Swiatek and her main sponsor, sportswear firm On, recently released a 10-minute film about her. Uninterrupted, a media strand that U.S. basketball star LeBron James and his agent Maverick Carter lead, will soon release Top Class Tennis, a series about the junior circuit, and next month Serena Williams and U.S. broadcaster ESPN will release an eight-part show about her life, titled In the Arena: Serena Williams. Of course, Serena already participated in the production of King Richard, 2021’s Oscar-winning Will Smith movie about how her father made her and her sister, Venus, the two best tennis players in the world on the playground courts in Compton, California. If there is a throughline to all this, it is the gauzy, invariably flattering presentation of nearly all the subjects, many of whom (or their agents) receive producing credits. Becker is the exception: Alex Gibney, the Oscar-nominated director of 2005’s Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room, paid the German for the time he spent sitting for interviews but was otherwise free to explore his marital infidelity and the financial malfeasance that landed him in a British prison. In an interview last year, Becker said he wanted it that way so the film had “maximum credibility”. “Tennis is definitely having a moment where it’s transcending a lot into popular culture,” said Stuart Duguid, Osaka’s agent and business partner who has launched a production company with the Japanese-Haitian star, who lives in the U.S. Thanks to changes in technology, the ongoing transition from supernovas to rising stars in tennis, a shift in who holds the power in media, and the aftermath of Break Point’s ultimate failure, that moment of transcendence also applies to the form, as the tennis “documentary” becomes an increasingly autobiographical pursuit, whose truth is in the hands of its stars. All of this has come long after Dominic Thiem started posting videos about himself on YouTube in 2018. Those videos of Thiem, sitting in front of a beige drape, telling the camera he wants people to understand all the work that goes into being a pro player seem like quaint slices of ancient history, from a time long before a year in which Zendaya started popping up at tournaments across the world in heels spiked with tennis balls; Nick Kyrgios brought Rainn Wilson and Gordon Ramsay to a video podcast; and Daria Kasatkina joined forces with partner and Olympic figure skater Natalia Zabiiako to rebrand her documentation of the day-to-day realities of life on the WTA Tour on YouTube with What The Vlog. Theories abound on why this has come about, but changes in technology are probably the biggest driver, according to people involved with the projects. Some 15 or 20 years ago, if top players wanted to tell their story in the middle of their careers, they would hire a ghostwriter and produce an autobiography, or an “authorized biography”. Today, i n an era when everyone has a video camera in their pocket or bag and a new generation has grown up only knowing posting videos of their lives on social media, making an autobiographical film has never been easier, or more mundane, or easier to sell.    Duguid’s view is that the struggles, and ultimate cancellation, of Break Point may have created a vacuum in the market. The producers of the wildly popular Drive To Survive show following Formula 1 motor racing were also making Break Point. Plenty of executives expected it to dominate the market and become the definitive non-fiction tennis film. Netflix and tennis: Why did Break Point fail? That didn’t happen for a variety of reasons, but mainly because most of the top players opted not to participate. They didn’t want cameras following them everywhere when they had little creative control or financial incentive. Swiatek, the women’s world No 1, cooperated for one episode during the first of its two seasons but didn’t like how little input she had, she said earlier this year. Swiatek also said her appearance “caused some hate towards me and my team”, so she took matters into her own hands with the On film. With her team having creative control alongside her lead sponsor, the now five-time Grand Slam champion could take control of her message. “I like projects that show an athlete as a human being, not like a machine,” Swiatek said via email this week. “There’s sometimes this narrative that we’re special, we can do more, but that’s not true. We’re just humans, like everybody else.” Swiatek said she and her team have fielded plenty of proposals to make a longer autobiographical film. She’s not interested in the hassle, which she fears would get in the way of her training, and she thinks it’s kind of a silly idea. “There’s maybe a story to tell, but this story is still being written and has a lot of chapters ahead,” wrote Swiatek, who is also a fan of The Last Dance, and likes Full Swing and Quarterback, Netflix shows about pro golfers and the NFL ’s field generals. “I feel you can make documentaries about legends like Rafa or Roger, not about a 23-year-old person.” Her short film, though was something else — partly a long commercial and partly a window into what makes her tick, done on her timetable and within her schedule: “My management team had a big impact on the concept, on all the logistics and organization which helped because they know me well. They could plan everything to make it smooth for everyone. The On team listened to me, to my ideas, my perspective.” That opportunity has put projects like these at the centre of the changing context of tennis media, and it comes from a broader shift in the power relations between the players and those of us who cover the sport. As in the documentary space, it’s Osaka who has been a leader. When she announced she would boycott French Open media sessions in 2021, she said that “people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings true whenever I see a press conference.” She was also saying, if not in words, that whatever those conferences offered, it wasn’t worth the damage they were doing to her at the time and she could convey what she wanted to convey to the outside world in other ways. Those cameras in people’s pockets and the platforms that they post their footage on? They’re also microphones — megaphones, for the biggest stars — and those stars have realized that a direct, often monetisable, route to their fans on the devices that they carry every day is a very effective media strategy. Whether it’s Alcaraz or Taylor Swift, Swiatek or Bad Bunny, Federer or Lionel Messi, star-led social media has reconfigured power relations. Even Becker, who wanted maximum credibility for his film, uses his X account like a stenograph for messages from the stars of today. This was both the life and the death of Break Point: the promise was in the access to the sport’s biggest stars; the biggest stars were able to reject the access. The series floundered. Kasatkina is an exception, using her outlet to reflect on the absurdity of the best tennis players in the world waiting around to practice because their tournament hasn’t sorted out transport, and some tournaments — particularly the U.S. Open — have realised that using platforms such as TikTok on those platforms’ terms, remixing and remaking tennis in the process, is a route into bringing more people into the sport’s lives and dramas. Some companies have sought ways to unite different poles of the media environment. On is bringing together Federer, an investor in the company, and Zendaya, who is already doing On commercials, for an upcoming campaign. Federer’s film, according to his longtime agent and business partner Tony Godsick, is built on one of those simpler and older media formulas that have withstood the great shift in relevance. “There is an appetite these days for content for iconic athletes,” he said. No argument there, apart from about the “these days” part. Godsick said the Federer documentary happened almost by accident. Federer had received inquiries about making a biographical film many times and didn’t have much interest in doing so, preferring to keep his private life with his wife and their four children off-camera. But as he came to terms with his career-ending knee injury and prepared to announce his retirement in 2022, Godsick asked if they could capture the preparations for that moment, and his final match, on film, just in case.   “The idea was to shoot it and put it in the freezer for 10, 15 years, so if he decided to do a life-doc at some point, we’d have the footage,” Godsick said.  First they hired Sabia, a contemporary media savant who developed the ’73 Questions’ series that Vogue magazine — and Federer, with his appearance in 2019 — made one of their calling cards. “ To be a fly on the wall was incredibly enlightening,” Sabia said before the London premiere, speaking of being paid to witness one of the great sports figures of the past 100 years calling it quits and film what he was asked to film. Sabia knew he had not been hired to make a movie, but midway through the process he told Godsick he was getting some incredible footage and felt there might be something more there. Godsick told him to think about putting together a three-minute piece they could release on Instagram. Federer remained resistant, but Godsick convinced him he owed his fans something, and once they started compiling the material, he relented, letting Godsick set up some meetings with studios. There was no shortage of interest.  Amazon saw some of the material and suggested bringing in Kapadia, a narrative British filmmaker with an archivist’s eye and a fondness for the stories of outliers and outsiders, best known for highly regarded movies about British singer Amy Winehouse and Argentine footballer Diego Maradona, to put it all together. Now, less than two years after Federer said goodbye to competitive tennis, the world has a window into the emotional toll that took on him and his family, especially his wife. For Federer, it is also a window — demarcated on his terms and framed by the edges of a screen. What you see is what you get, even if it is not everything that happened. “This had to be a moment, so we were determined to celebrate it because that’s what it’s supposed to be,” Federer said at the premiere. “That’s what I love about this film and any retirement, and I hope we’ll see more of a snapshot into the retirement of athletes.” Godsick said he and Federer didn’t have the formal final-approval rights, but traditionalists would argue that their financial participation in the project and their input make it something other than a documentary in a journalistic sense. That is likely a side issue, given the seemingly insatiable market at the moment for tennis player content, even if most people probably will not consume all of it.  The lighting around Federer is perfect throughout Twelve Days. Fans rave about him as though he is a kind of tennis messiah, and to them, that’s exactly what he is. The tension between the shiny veneer of stardom and the people that it varnishes, a hallmark of Kapadia’s other work, is buffed away. On this smooth and shiny surface, the tears over the prospect of Federer’s departure — from fans; from Rafael Nadal; and from Federer — just flow and flow and flow. Additional reporting by The Athletic ’s Charlie Eccleshare in London. (Top photos: Quality Sport Images, Getty Images; design: Dan Goldfarb ) Get all-access to exclusive stories. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us. Matthew Futterman is an award-winning veteran sports journalist and the author of two books, “Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed” and “Players: How Sports Became a Business.”Before coming to The Athletic in 2023, he worked for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Star-Ledger of New Jersey and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is currently writing a book about tennis, "The Cruelest Game: Agony, Ecstasy and Near Death Experiences on the Pro Tennis Tour," to be published by Doubleday in 2026. Follow Matthew on Twitter @ mattfutterman 303 IMAGES Richest Footballer in the World, List of Top 10 Messi Sem Messi, Argentina enfrenta maior freguês do artilheiro. Confira os números do craque contra a Brief Biography Of Lionel Messi 1987 Biografi Singkat Brief Biography of Lionel Messi 1987- ...... Lionel Messi Biography: Personal Life, Career and Achievements VIDEO Lionel Messi Biography in English Lionel Messi Biography in English Lionel Messi Lionel Messi biography in english || Lionel Messi essay/paragraph in english || short note on messi Essay on Lionel Messi in English||Biography of Messi in English||Messi|| Life Story of Lionel Messi COMMENTS Lionel Messi: Biography, Soccer Player, Inter Miami CF, Athlete Lionel Messi is one of the world's best soccer players and helped Argentina win the 2022 FIFA World Cup. ... Messi's short stature—5 ... The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed ... Lionel Messi Biography Short Biography Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi was born, 24 June 1987, in Rosario, Argentina to a working-class family. His father was a factory steel worker, and his mother a cleaner. He began playing from an early age, and his talent was soon apparent. However, at the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). Lionel Messi Lionel Messi (born June 24, 1987, Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine-born football (soccer) player who received a record-setting eight Ballon d'Or awards as the world's top male player (2009-12, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023). In 2022 he helped Argentina win the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)'s World Cup. The life and times of Lionel Messi The early life of Lionel Messi. It started with a videotape.Horacio Gaggioli, an agent in Argentina, was sent footage of a 12-year-old Lionel Messi playing for the oxymoronic Newell's Old Boys ... Career of Lionel Messi Lionel Messi's club career began with Barcelona, where he rose through the youth ranks, making his first-team debut in 2004.Over the next years, Messi became the club's all-time leading scorer, amassing numerous domestic and international accolades. During his tenure, Barcelona secured ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey victories, and four UEFA Champions League victories. Lionel Messi Lionel Messi. Lionel Andrés " Leo " Messi [note 1] ( Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] ⓘ; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time ... Lionel Messi Born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1987, Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, and his illustrious career proves why. 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.. When Messi was 13 years old, he and his family moved to Barcelona, where the club ... Lionel Messi Lionel Messi Cuccittini (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] (); (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer. As of summer 2023, he plays for the Argentinian national team and American club Inter Miami. Messi is widely recognized as one of the best players of all time. His playing style and skills have been compared to the Argentine legend Diego Maradona. Lionel Messi: The evolution of the greatest footballer of all time His false-nine era had begun. As he gradually became a full-time centre-forward over the next few years, Messi went supernova. We're talking absolutely bonkers. In the first eight decades of La ... Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was named the world's best player for a record eight times by FIFA. Lionel Messi's Life Story: The Smallest Boy With The Biggest ... Mar 08, 2018. Lionel Messi is a well-known name even to those with no interest in sports. Even though he is shorter than most of his teammates, he rises above his opponents with adept skill and a legendary ability to score goals for his team. Since his childhood, Lionel Messi, who was nicknamed "Leo", dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He started playing soccer as a boy and in 1995 joined the youth team of Newell's Old Boys (a Rosario-based top-division soccer club). Messi's skills garnered the attention of prestigious clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. At age 13 Messi and his family relocated to ... Lionel Messi summary Lionel Messi, (born June 24, 1987, Rosario, Arg.), Argentine-born football (soccer) player. After making his formal debut with FC Barcelona during the 2004-05 season, when he became the youngest official player and goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga, he emerged as one of the game's dominant players, known for his prolific goal scoring and precise ball control. Lionel Messi Biography Facts, Childhood, Career, Life Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini was given birth to on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, to a steel factory manager, Jorge Messi and his wife Celia Cuccittini. Messi was the third of four children they gave birth to. He grew up in a family where the game of football was adored. Young Lionel Messi in Argentina around 1993. Lionel Messi Biography Lionel Messi is an Argentine former professional footballer counted amongst the best players in the world in football history. The only player in history to win five FIFA Ballons d'Or, he was also the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. During his playing career he shattered many world records and currently holds the records for most goals scored in La Liga, a La Liga season (50 ... Lionel Messi Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. He began playing soccer as a young boy. By 1995 he was a good enough player to join Newell's Old Boys, a top-division soccer club in Rosario. Messi's skills won attention on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and at the age of 13 Messi moved to Barcelona, Spain, to join FC Barcelona's ... Lionel Messi, the little boy who became the greatest in history Leo Messi. The little kid who became the best player in history. For many, the greatest player of all-time suffered an illness during childhood that stopped him from growing normally. He was able ... Lionel Messi Biography: Personal Life, Career and Achievements Lionel Messi normally needs no introduction, but for those who need context, he's a professional footballer widely regarded as the best of all time, or at least one of them.He was born in Argentina but spent most of his life in Europe, where he played for Spain giants FC Barcelona since he was a kid. In 2021, Messi left for Paris Saint-Germain, which is just his second club in his fantastic ... Lionel Messi Biography: Life & Career Summary (2018) Lionel Andrés Messi (aka Leo, Lio, La Pulga [The Flea], La Pulga Atómica [The Atomic Flea], El Messías) was born on June 24, 1987 in the Argentine city of Rosario. He was raised with three siblings in a working-class neighbourhood known as Barrio General Las Heras. At the age of 5, he started playing for the Grandoli, a small local club in ... Lionel Messi Lionel Messi. Self: 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. Lionel Messi is a football player from Argentina who plays for Inter Miami. He has won the Ballon D'Or, the annual award given to the best player in the world, 8 times, 2022 FIFA World Cup winner and an Olympic gold medal winner in 2008. He was born in 1987 in Rosario, Argentina's third-biggest city. He showed an enormous aptitude for football... Lionel Messi: Biography, Family, Education Messi joined the youth academy of the Barcelona team and is now credited for developing the talented footballer via training. 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