Biography of Leonel Messi

Beginnings

Lionel Messi was born in Santa Fe Province on June 24, 1987. At the age of five, he
started playing football for Grandoli, a club coached by his father. In 1995, Messi
switched to Newell's Old Boys.[2] At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth
hormone deficiency.[3] River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have
enough money to pay for the treatment of the illness, which cost over £500 a month. As
Argentina's economy was collapsing, Carles Rexach, then sporting director of FC
Barcelona, was made aware of Messi's talent, and Barcelona signed him after watching
him play,[4] offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to start a new
life in Spain.[2] His family moved with the young player to Europe and he starred in the
clubs youth teams.[4]

He soon found himself starting for the Barcelona B team, averaging more than a goal
per game, by scoring 37 goals in 30 matches.

Barcelona debut

In October 2004 Messi made his official debut for the first team against RCD Espanyol,
becoming the third-youngest player to ever play for FC Barcelona. When he scored his
first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on May 1, 2005, Messi was 17
years, 10 months and 7 days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga
game for FC Barcelona.

Argentina U-20

Messi was offered the chance to play for the Spanish national side, but he declined,
preferring to wait for the opportunity to play for the country of his birth. In June 2004
he got his chance, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay.

In June 2005 Messi played in the U-20 team that won the Football World Youth
Championship in Netherlands, picking up the Golden Boot as top scorer with 6 goals,
and the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament. Despite his youth, Lionel was
already being compared to Diego Maradona, one of the greatest football players of all
time. On June 27, FC Barcelona renewed his contract until 2010, establishing a selling
clause of €150 million (which happens to be 30 million more than his teammate in
Barcelona, Ronaldinho).[2][5]

International debut

On August 4, José Pekerman called him up to the senior Argentine national team. He
made his debut against Hungary being put in in the 63rd minute, but was sent off after
just 40 seconds, because the referee Markus Merk found he had elbowed the defender
Vilmos Vanczák who was tugging Messi's shirt, and left the pitch in tears. The decision
was heavily contested as Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated.[6][7]
Messi then had his first real international debut on September 3 in Argentina's 0-1
World Cup qualifier away loss against Paraguay playing the last eight minutes of the
match.[8] Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-debut. The first one was a bit
short"[9]

2005-06 season

Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on September 25 and was finally able to make his
debut in this season's Spanish First Division. He had previously been unable to play
because FC Barcelona had filled their quota of non-EU players. Messi's first home
outing in the UEFA Champions League came on September 27 against Italian club
Udinese.[10] He impressed with some great passing and a seemingly telepathic
relationship with Ronaldinho that earned him a standing ovation from the 70,000-odd
Nou Camp faithful.[11] In December of that year, the Italian newspaper Tuttosport
awarded him the Golden Boy 2005 title for the best under-21 player in Europe, ahead of
Wayne Rooney, Lukas Podolski, and Cristiano Ronaldo.[12]

Messi netted 6 goals from 17 league appearances and scored 1 Champions League goal
from the 6 games he featured in. His reputation for big match temperament was helped
by performances in Barcelona's important away leg victories against Real Madrid and
Chelsea in the league and Champions League respectively, each considered his best of
the respective campaign.[13] [4] Messi's season ended prematurely on March 7, 2006,
when he tore a muscle in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round
Champions League tie against Chelsea.[14]. Barcelona ended the season as champions of
Spain and Europe.

World Cup 2006

The injury that kept him from playing for two months at the end of the 2005/06 league,
jeopardized his presence in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Nonetheless, Messi was selected
in the Argentina squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup on May 15, 2006. He also played
in the farewell match against the Argentinian U-20 team for fifteen minutes and a
friendly against Angola from the 64th minute.[15][16]

Messi witnessed Argentina's opening match win against Ivory Coast from the bench
because the manager Pekerman wanted to shield him from the pressure.[17] In the next
match against Serbia and Montenegro, he came on as a substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in
the 74th minute. In doing so he became the youngest player to represent Argentina at a
World Cup. He assisted Hernán Crespo's goal within minutes of entering the game and
also scored the final goal in the 6-0 victory. This goal made him the youngest scorer in
the 2006 World Cup and the sixth youngest scorer in World Cup history, Pelé being the
youngest.[18] Messi started in Argentina's following 0-0 tie against the Netherlands as a
forward. Fellow striker Carlos Tevez and he were not allowed any space by the Dutch
defence, which prevented him from causing any damage and he was substituted in the
69th minute.[19]

In the following game against Mexico, Messi came on as a substitute for Javier Saviola
in the 84th minute, with the score tied 1-1. He scored a goal, which was controversially
ruled offside. Argentina proceeded to win the game 2-1 in extra time. [20] Messi
controversially spent the entire quarter-finals match against Germany, which Argentina
lost in a penalty shootout, on the bench.[21]
2006-07 Season

Messi maintained his reputation as a big match player when he tricked Brazilian full
back Roberto Carlos making him fall over and break a finger during one particularly
deft move.[22] His 89th minute equaliser away to Werder Bremen was pivotal in
Barcelona's qualification to the Champions League knock out phase. Messi had another
long lay off with a broken metatarsal which kept him out for 3 months.[23] He sustained
the injury in a game against Real Zaragoza on November 12, after tackles from Alberto
Zapater and Albert Celades.[24] On 5 January 2007, Spanish newspaper El Mundo
Deportivo reported that Internazionale president Massimo Moratti was planning a £71
million bid for Messi;[25] however, Moratti denied any immediate plans to sign Messi in
an interview posted on Internazionale's official website.[26] He made his return against
Racing Santander on the 11th of February, where he came on as a second-half
substitute.[1] On March 10, 2007 he scored a hat-trick against Real Madrid in El
Clásico, with his third goal coming in injury time to earn 10-man Barcelona the draw 3-
3 at home to Real Madrid. Messi was the first player to score a hat-trick in El Clásico
since Iván Zamorano did it for Real Madrid in the 1994-95 season, and the first
Barcelona player to do it since Romario scored three against Real Madrid in the 1993-
94 season, and against Recreativo he scored again. This was his 7th goal. He scored
again against Deportivo, from a wonderful pass from Ronaldinho. This was his 8th goal
in the 2006-07 season. A wondeful solo goal against Getafe CF in a La Liga game on
April 18th further reflected Messi's footballing similarity with Diego Maradona, and has
further forged the youngster as one of the hottest prospects in the game.

El Golazo

Messi shortly before scoring the goal.

On April 18, 2007, Messi scored two goals during a Copa del Rey semifinal against
Getafe CF, one of which was very similar to Maradona's famous goal against England at
the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, known as the Goal of the Century[27]. Messi's goal
is already considered a major contender for the best goal of the year. The world's sports
press exploded with Maradona comparisons, and the Spanish press labeled Messi
"Messidona". He ran about the same distance (62 metres), beat the same number of
players (six, including the goalkeeper), scored from a very similar position, and ran
towards the corner flag just as Maradona did in Mexico 21 years before. A video of the
goal can be seen here