"Once they said they can only stop me with a pistol.
Today you need a machine gun to stop Messi." - Hristo Stoichkov
"Messi or Ronaldo best player in the world? In the
world, I would say Ronaldo. Messi is from another planet." - Turkish
international Arda Turan
"They tell me that all men are equal in God’s eyes, this
player makes you seriously think about those words." - Football
commentator Ray Hudson
"Messi does not need his right foot. He only uses the
left and he’s still the best in the world. Imagine if he also used his right
foot, Then we would have serious problems." - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
"The other day I saw one of his games. He was running
with the ball at a hundred percent full speed, I don’t know how many touches he
took, maybe five or six, but the ball was glued to his foot. It’s practically
impossible." - Real Madrid legend Raul
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). This was a condition that stunted growth, and required
expensive medical treatment, including the use of the drug Human growth
hormone.
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
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.
Lionel Messi is an Argentinian footballer widely regarded as
the one of the greatest players of the modern generation. He plays for FC
Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He is agile, he is quick and he is
unstoppable, Lionel Messi is a playmaker in its truest terms. Messi has become
the world’s best soccer player, with atypical talent and record-breaking
performances. This extraordinarily skilled player has some tough records by his
side.
To start off with, he is the only player with four FIFA
Ballon d'Or awards and three European Golden Shoe awards, he holds the Guinness
World Records title for the most goals in a year: 91 goals, he has in his kitty
the most international goals in a year, he has the most goals scored in FIFA
Club World Cup: 4 goals and the most
consecutive league matches scored in which he has a record of 30 goals in 19
matches. While these stats are until April 2013, this talented soccer
specialist is sure to break many more in the years to come. Messi has been
commonly rated by commentators, coaches and colleagues as the best footballer
in the world and as one of the greatest players in the history of the game, his
main USP being his ability to remain in full control of the ball even while
dribbling in speed. His outstanding pace and creative combinations coupled with
his futuristic vision and attacking technique is spectacular and efficient, leading
him to be compared with compatriot Diego Maradona.
By the age of 21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA
World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2009, he won his
first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He followed this up
by winning the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010, and then again in 2011 and
2012. He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.
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 €250million). 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 1918. 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.”
At the age of 24, Messi became Barcelona's all-time top
scorer in all official club competitions. In September 2014 he scored his 400th
senior career goal for club and country aged just 27. In November 2014, Messi
became the all-time top scorer in La Liga, and the all-time leading goalscorer
in the UEFA Champions League.
Messi helped Argentina win the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup,
finishing as both the best player and the top scorer (with six goals). In 2006,
he became the youngest Argentine to play and score in the FIFA World Cup, and
won a runners-up medal at the Copa América in 2007, in which he was named young
player of the tournament. In 2008, he won an Olympic Gold Medal with the
Argentina Olympic football team. At the 2014 World Cup, he led Argentina to the
final, winning four consecutive Man of the Match awards in the process, and
received the Golden Ball award as the best player of the tournament. In 2013,
SportsPro rated him the second-most marketable athlete in the world.
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.”
Messi established the Leo Messi Foundation, a charity
supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children in 2007.
This was in response to Messi’s own medical ailments that he faced as a child.
The foundation works towards providing children diagnosed with illnesses
treatment in Spain funds covering the transport, hospital and recuperation
costs. Most of the funds collected by the organization is through Messi’s own effort with a little aid by Herbalife.
By far, he is not only a true genius footballer, he is a very
good persons too. Being a humble guy, he is a dream boy of every child of modern
age. And most of all, there is still a dilema on football pundits that is he already become greatest
footballer of all time. Only time will tell when he retires from his boots and
people will miss the true art of football with the beginning of new era.
"I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of
individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I'm more worried
about being a good person than being the best football player in the world.
When all this is over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered
for being a decent guy. " …… Lionel Messi
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