Who is Lionel Messi? Wiki, Bio, Brief Details

Lionel Messi is a footballer for club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He set a goal record and won individual awards, thus becoming one of the best football players in the world. Chapter

Who is Messi?

Luis Lionel Andres (“Leo”) Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for FC Barcelona and the Argentine national team. At the age of 13, Messi moved from Argentina to Spain after Barcelona Football Club agreed to pay for his medical expenses.

There, he was hailed as one of the greatest players in history, helping his club win more than two dozen league titles and tournaments. In 2012, he set the record for the most goals scored in a calendar year. In 2019, he was named the winner of the European Ballon d’Or for the sixth time.

Early Experience

Messi was in born Rosario, Argentina, on June 24, 1987. When Messi was a child, his two older brothers played soccer with their friends and the older children did not bully them. At the age of 8, he was recruited to join the youth system of Newell’s Old Boys Club in Rosario.

Messi is younger than most children his age and was eventually diagnosed by a doctor with a hormonal deficiency, limiting his growth. Messi’s parents, Jorge and Ceclia, decided to inject their son with growth hormone every night, although it soon became impossible to pay hundreds of dollars a month for the drug.

Therefore, when Messi was 13 years old, when Messi had the opportunity to train in the youth training ground of the strong football team Barcelona Football Club La Masia, and the team paid his medical expenses, Messi’s family took them away. and moved to the Atlantic. and built a new house in Spain. Although he often missed his home in his new country, Messi quickly moved up the ranks of the youth system.

In the end, Messi’s short stature (5 feet 7 inches), coupled with his speed and ruthless offensive style, made him comparable to another famous Argentine footballer Diego Maradona.

Soccer Career And Team | FC Barcelona And Argentina

Messi only played for FC Barcelona and signed for the first time at the age of 13. He also played for the Argentine team. Between

and 16, Messi played for the first time in the Barcelona team and entered the record book on May 1, 2005, becoming the youngest scorer in the team’s history. That same year, he led the Argentine team to the U-20 World Cup and scored in two penalty shootouts, pushing the team to defeat the Nigerian team.

Messi led Barcelona to great success, especially in 2009, when his left-handed team won the UEFA Champions League, La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup. That same year, after winning the runner-up twice in a row, he won his first FIFA “World Footballer of the Year” / Golden Globe award.

Even the great Maradona spoke incessantly about his compatriots. “I think he is a lot like me,” the retired player told the BBC. “He is a leader and is giving beautiful soccer lessons. He has something else to any other player in the world. “

Surprisingly, the soccer wizard continues to improve and discovers new ways to avoid defenders. Method, and led Barcelona to win La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup in 2010 and 2011, as well as the XI Champions League.

Messi started at full speed in 2012 and became the first player to score 5 goals in the Champions League in early March. A few weeks later, he surpassed Cesar Rodríguez’s club record of 232 goals to become Barcelona. s All-time top scorer.

By the end of 2012, Messi had racked up a staggering 91 goals in club and international competition, surpassing the 85 goals scored by Gerd Muller in a calendar year in 1972. Fittingly, when he was named FIFA Ballon d`, he broke another record o won the championship for the fourth time in January 2013.

Due to ongoing hamstring injury, the soccer superstar returned that year, but became the top scorer in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League in the later period, thus returning to a record state in 2014.

After helping Barcelona win the historic second triple crown in 2015, he won the fifth FIFA Ballon d’Or trophy. Four years later, after winning another La Liga title, Messi once again set a new standard of excellence and won his sixth Ballon d’Or.

Criticisms of the Argentine team’s performance

Despite the great success in Barcelona, Messi was criticized for not helping the Argentine team win the Grand Slam championship. Although his team lost to Germany, he led “La Albiceleste” to the final of the 2014 World Cup and was named the best player of the tournament.

In 2016, after Argentina lost to Chile in the Copa América final for the second time in a row, Messi announced that he would end the game with the national team.

The soccer superstar finally changed his mind, but his participation in the 2018 World Cup did not bring him that elusive title as people expected. After Messi scored a goal in 21 games against Nigeria to help his team advance from the group stage, he was largely controlled by the French team, and his two assists weren’t enough to prevent the Argentine team from gaining ground. 43 defeats. The following year

, after losing 20 to Brazil in the semifinals of the Copa América, after Messi harshly criticized the referee, the Argentine captain was sanctioned for three games by the South American Football Association.

Statistics

As of August 2019, all the historical highlights of Messi’s Barcelona:

Games: 687 | Goals: 603 | Assists: 251 | Shooting accuracy: 48%

 | Opportunities Created: 348 Messi won

Player of the Year of the FIFA six times. He also won the Golden Boot for Europe’s best scorer six times, twice as many as his closest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Tax Fraud Scandal

In July 2016, when the Barcelona court ruled that Messi and his father were guilty of three counts of tax fraud, Messi was beaten on the soccer field. In the four-day trial, Messi and his father denied breaking the law and claimed they were unaware of any tax offenses.

However, all were sentenced to 21 months in prison. Under Spanish law, the first offenders under the age of two will be suspended, so they will not go to jail, but Messi was ordered to pay a fine of 2 million euros. His father was asked to pay 1.5 million euros.

Personal Life

On June 30, 2017, Messi married Antonella Rocuzzo. Antonella Rocuzzo is his girlfriend of many years, his best friend and cousin of footballer Lucas · Scalia. Messi and Rocuzo have 3 children together: Thiago, born in November 2012, Mateo, born in September 2015, and Siro, born in March 2018.

Messi met Rocuzzo in his hometown, Rosario, when he was 5 years old. Their wedding, dubbed “The Wedding of the Century” by Argentina’s Clarín newspaper, took place at a luxury hotel in Rosario and the 260-person guest list included many star soccer players and Colombian pop star Shakira.

Charity and UNICEF

Although Messi is known for his privacy off the pitch, he quietly helps those in need. In 2007, he established the Messi Foundation to provide opportunities for disadvantaged youth. In early 2010, UNICEF appointed him a Goodwill Ambassador to focus on fighting for children’s rights around the world.