Football Biography Contest - Lionel Messi

Lionel signed his first contract with a club in Argentina at the age of 7, and at the age of 13 he discussed a contract with Barcelona in Spain and set conditions for it. Lionel was taunted by Barça's youth squad, and one of the coaches turned the players against him.

The general manager of the club was going to cut Messi's salary five times, after which Lionel wanted to move to Real Madrid. Messi played in the Puyol mask for Barcelona's youth squad, while Ronaldinho made Lionel a star of the club. Rijkaard took Messi to Barcelona's main squad, and Guardiola rebuilt the team's game for him. We tell about the biography of Messi and facts from his personal life.

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Messi was born in the Argentine city of Rosario in 1987. Lionel played football from the age of 5, and from the age of 7 he began playing for the professional club Newells Old Boys. At 10 years old, Messi was 1 m 27 cm tall, and he weighed about 30 kilograms.

One of Messi's nicknames is "flea". Lionel says he doesn't know who first named him that. Messi's family assures that the nickname was invented by Rodrigo's brother. And Rodrigo himself says that the nickname was invented by the first coach of Lionel - Don Apa, who, when he first saw Leo on the field, allegedly said: “My God! Yes, this flea from behind the ball is not visible at all! ".

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Messi is deficient in growth hormone - somatotropin. Without this hormone, a person does not grow. Messi was diagnosed at age 10. In order for Lionel to continue to grow, it was necessary to receive daily injections of growth hormone for three years. The family's money was enough for two years of treatment. It was necessary to do injections for another year so that the previous two years of treatment would not be wasted, but there was no money.

Messi's father asked the Newells Old Boys for a loan for treatment - Lionel would then work the money, as he would continue to play for the club. The Newells management did not refuse, but they were in no hurry to allocate money, constantly changing conditions. Messi's father realized that the money would not be allocated to them.

At the same time, an agent from the River Plate club invited Messi to come to the screening, he agreed. The coaches of the River Plate youth team liked Leo, they turned to the management with a request to sign the player, but there were problems.

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On March 1, 2001, Lionel Messi signed a contract with Barcelona. He received 600 thousand euros a year and a number of other payments - for rent and family needs. The Messi family rented a large apartment on Gran Via de Carles III, a 5-minute walk from the Camp Nou. Messi began his studies at the Barcelona youth academy, also known as La Masia.

Messi was not a Catalan, he was short, poorly grounded in tactics - when the ball reached him, Leo himself ran with him to the goal. Lionel was jealous of being given privileges that no one else at the academy had. Messi did not speak Catalan, and he only heard Spanish when he was mocked.

“In class at school, as soon as I opened my mouth, someone immediately began to grunt or make other unpleasant sounds, mimicking my speech,” says Messi.

If in Argentina Messi's team simply played football, in the Barcelona academy everyone fought for a place in the senior team. Messi came to the ready team and took the place of one of the players, the team saw this and tried to play against Lionel. After all, if today you have replaced your friend, tomorrow they can replace you.

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Coach Rodolfo Borrell helped Lionel get comfortable. Messi said that one of the academy coaches began to set other players to play tough against him. Borrell intervened and gave the opposite direction. And although the players did not immediately perceive the words of the coach, it became easier for Messi to train.

When Messi spent a year at the academy, he was no longer considered a rookie. Lionel has established relationships with some of his teammates, they began to invite him to relax together after training. Leo played well and was respected for that. Messi grew up in a year thanks to treatment and was no longer short.

Due to salary cuts. In the summer of 2001, Messi and his family left for Argentina. At this time, Barcelona had a new manager, Javier Perez Farguell, who was supposed to improve the financial affairs of the club. Fargwell began to revise the contracts of the youth squad and decided to cut Messi's salary 5 times - from 600 thousand euros to 120 thousand. Jorge Messi was informed that if something does not suit him, he can go with his son back to Argentina.

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November 16, 2003 in a friendly match with Porto at the grand opening of the Dragau stadium. In the 75th minute, Barcelona coach Frank Rijcard replaced Fernando Navarro - Messi entered the field with the 14th number. 2 years and 9 months have passed since his arrival in Spain. Barcelona lost 0: 2, and Messi did not score.

Messi played his first official match for the Barcelona main squad on October 16, 2004. In the match against Espanyol, Leo came out in the 82nd minute. On October 23, Lionel played 20 minutes in the Barcelona vs. Osasuna match. Messi sat on the bench for the next 7 games.

Ronaldinho was an example for Messi at Barcelona. Lionel tried to play better than Ronaldinho, the Brazilian saw this and encouraged Messi. Ronaldinho did not try to strengthen his authority in the team at the expense of an inexperienced player, but wanted to pull Messi up to his level. The Brazilian rejoiced at Lionel's success and often mentioned his name during interviews. Ronaldinho rested with Tiago Motta and Deco and sometimes called Messi with him.

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In 2003, the newspapers began writing about Messi. One of the most authoritative sports magazines in Argentina, El Grafico, compared Lionel to Maradona. After Messi's debut in the main squad of Barcelona, ​​the largest daily sports newspaper in Spain, Mundo Deportivo, wrote an article about him with the headline "Star of the Future".