Lionel Messi
(24 June 1987, Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina)
Nationality: Argentina
Category: Athletes, Celebrities
Occupation: Football (Soccer) Players
Specification: Position – Attacking midfielder (right/centre). Shirt number: 10
Unique distinction: One of the best football players in the world.
Height: 1.69 m (5 ft 61⁄2 in).
Weight: 67 kg (152 lbs).
Gender: Male
1. Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn’t thrill me or make me play better because there are benefits to being wealthy. I’m just happy with a ball at my feet. My motivation comes from playing the game I love.
2. You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.
3. In football as in watchmaking, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigour and precision.
4. Ronaldo was my hero. He was the best forward I’ve ever seen. He was so fast that he could score a goal from nothing and he struck the ball better than anyone I’ve seen.
5. Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits, and get on with trying to win.
6. The best decisions aren’t made with your mind, but with your Instinct.
7. You can overcome anything, if and only if you love something enough.
Achievements and contributions:
The main contribution to (Best known for): Messi is considered the best player in the world and regarded as the greatest of all time.
Contributions:
Messi is the only football player in history to win six FIFA Ballons d’Or (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019) (Cristiano Ronaldo won 5 – in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
and the first player to win six European Golden Shoes (2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19). (Cristiano Ronaldo wins 4).
Barcelona
With Barcelona, he has won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, as well as four Copas del Rey. A prolific goalscorer Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (428), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (173) and the Copa América (13).
He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.
Winner:
FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1, 2005
Copa América, second place 2007
Olympic Gold Medal: 1, 2008
Individual achievements:
European Golden Shoe (6)
FIFA Ballon d’Or (6)
World Soccer Greatest XI of All Time: 2013
Current club: Inter Miami CF
Major works: He has won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey.
Career and personal life:
He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named Maria Sol. At the age of five, he started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father.
Education: He went to Las Heras for elementary school. At the age of five, Messi started playing for the local club coached by his father.
Career highlights:
In the 2003-2004 season, when he was still only 16, Messi made his unofficial debut for the first team against FC Porto on November 16, 2003.
A year later he made his official debut against Espanyol on October 16, 2004, at the Olympic Stadium (0-1), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for FC Barcelona and the youngest club player who played in La Liga.
On 1 May 2005, when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old, he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié and became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona.
On 17 August 2005, he played his first game for the Argentine senior national team against Hungary.
Lionel got Spanish citizenship in 2005, this year he also received the Golden Boy award for the best young player given by the Italian magazine Tuttosport.
In his debut season 2005-06, Barcelona won La Liga, and a double in the league and UEFA Champions League. Messi played a total of 17 league games, 6 in the Champions League and 2 in the Copa del Rey. Messi scored eight goals.
Messi was a member of Argentina’s 2006 World Cup team. He became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup.
In 2006–07 season he became a first-team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games
In summer 2007 he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América.
He continued to develop in the 2007-08 campaign when he scored 16 goals and gave 10 assists in the 40 games he played in.
In 2008 he also went to the Olympic Games in Beijing, where the Argentina Olympic football team won the Olympic gold medal
His most successful season was the 2008–09 season, in which Messi managed to stay injury-free all season, and played 51 games, scoring 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign.
In 2009 he helped Barcelona win a rare triple: the Copa del Rey, Spain’s La Liga championship, and the Champions League. Winning the 2009 World Player of the Year award after scoring 47 goals in 53 starts during the season.
In the 2009–10 season, Lionel during one week netted eight goals. In March, he became the first player in club history to score back-to-back hat tricks in league games.
In April, he had his first four-goal game, fueling a victory over Arsenal in a Champions League quarterfinal match.
He finished the year with 34 goals in La Liga play, matching the club record set in 1997 by Brazilian star Ronaldo. He was named the Spanish League’s top player for the second season in a row.
Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning three consecutive FIFA Ballons d’Or.
During the 2011–12 season, Messi set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season: 73 goals and provided 29 assists in all club competitions producing a hat-trick or more on 10 occasions.
In March of 2013, Messi scored for the 19th consecutive La Liga game.
Messi regained his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, breaking the all-time goalscoring records in both La Liga and the Champions League in November 2014.
In 2015 Messi received the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for a second time. He himself scored 58 of the 122 goals.
In February 2016, he reached his 300th league goal. In September, Messi scored his first hat-trick of the season and his sixth hat-trick in the Champions League in a game against Celtic in a 7–0 victory.
As the squad’s captain from 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals of the 2014 World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, and the 2015 and 2016 Copas América.
He announced his retirement from international football following Argentina’s on 26 June 2016. On 12 August, Messi reversed his decision on 1 September, for Argentina he scored one goal.
Messi assumed captaincy of Barcelona in 2018 and won a record sixth Ballon d’Or in 2019. Out of contract, he signed for French club Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021, spending two seasons at the club and winning Ligue 1 twice.
Messi joined American club Inter Miami in July 2023, winning the Leagues Cup in August of that year.
Charity. In 2007 he established Fundacion Leo Messi, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children. In a fansite interview, Messi said: “Being a bit famous now gives me the opportunity to help people who really need it, especially children.”
In response to Messi’s own childhood medical difficulties, the Leo Messi Foundation supports Argentine children diagnosed with medical conditions by offering treatment in Spain and covering the transport, hospital and recuperation costs.
On 11 March 2010, Messi was announced as a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF with a focus on fighting for children’s rights across the globe.
Messi is sponsored by the German sportswear company Adidas. In June 2010, Messi also signed a 3-year deal with Herbalife which further supports the Leo Messi Foundation.
In 2013, Messi donated a sum of €600,000 for the restoration of a children’s hospital in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina.
Creative playing style. Messi is an unusual, smart, unique and highly creative player. He has amazing individual skill, stylish dribbling and outstanding ball control at speed. He is also a remarkable team player and an excellent passer. He has a cool head, ability to keep balance allowed him to change speed and direction in a beat.
Moreover, Messi has a power and accuracy shot. He is always aware of the players around him and is good at creating space and new opportunities.
He is a universal player, who is comfortable at any of the forward positions. But first of all, Messi is an attacking, goal-scoring forward. He is a strong, fast, incisive and fearless player. He could shoot with either foot but was particularly adept with the left.
Salary. On June 27, 2005, Barcelona offered Lionel Messi a contract extension which would contain a buyout clause of 150 Million Euros (his contract is 30 Million more than the talismanic Ronaldinho). In 2009 The team rewarded Lionel with a contract extension through 2016. In recent years Messi has become one of the game’s highest-paid players, earning an estimated $18 million a year. On 19 May 2014, Messi signed a new contract his salary increased to €20 million, or €36 million before taxes, the highest wage ever in the sport.
In 2019 he was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes.
Total –$127 million, Salary – $92 million, Endorsements -$35 million.
Personal life:
At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, which would cast doubt over his entire career in the game. Primera División club River Plate showed interest in Messi’s progress but did not have enough money to pay for the treatment, as it cost $900 a month.
His parents were unable to pay for the treatment in Argentina, and in 2000 they moved to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency.
At the age of 13, Lionel Messi crossed the Atlantic to try his luck in Barcelona and joined the Under 14s. On September 25, 2005, Messi obtained Spanish citizenship and was finally able to make his debut in this season’s Spanish First Division.
His wife Antonella Roccuzzo is a fellow native of Rosario. She is a former model, 28 years old and studied Nutrition. They have known each other since childhood and started dating one Christmas vacation when he went home to Rosario, Argentina. She often travelled whenever she could to Barcelona to be with him.
In 2010 they announced that planned to marry. Antonella later shifted her base to her beau’s home in Barcelona.
Messi and Roccuzzo have three sons: Thiago (born November 2, 2012) Mateo (born September 11, 2015) and Ciro (born March 10, 2018).
Zest: His nicknames are The Flea, Atomic Flea, La Pulga, Lio, Leo, La Messiah, and The new Diego Maradona. He was born in Rosario, a city that was also the birthplace of Che Guevara. He is being compared to football soccer legend Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi his “successor”.
“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 to any other player in the world.” He made his debut with the national team on August 17, 2005, against Hungary, but it was a forgettable occasion. He was substituted in the 18th minute of the second half, and 47 seconds later was sent off for an elbow on Vilmos Vanczak. This decision was heavily criticized by many eminent figures.