Lionel Messi Story: The Ruler of the Football Who Suffered with GHD Once
Lionel Messi, an Argentinian football player, is one of the best players of the modern time. He competes for both the Argentina national team and FC Barcelona. He has five times been named FIFA world player of the year (2009–12 and 2015). Due to his tremendous goal scoring record and ability to dribble past opponents, he has frequently been referred to as Diego Maradona’s heir.
In 2016, he declared his international retirement, however he later changed his mind. He led his nation to victory at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, for which he received the Golden Ball Award. With 26 world cup matches played, he set the record for most appearances in world cup tournaments.
Early Life
Lionel Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, into a working-class family. His father was a manager in a steel plant, while his mother was a homemaker. He began playing when he was young, and his talent was soon apparent. However, Messi’s growth hormone deficiency (GHD) was discovered when he was 11 years old. It jeopardised his ability to play professionally.
Treatment for GHD would have cost at least $1,000 per month which was not affordable for the family. His club the Newells backed off later after promising for the help at first. Messi family attempted to set up a trial with Barcelona in September 2000. The board of directors hesitated since, at the time, foreign players being signed by European clubs at such a young age was rather unusual.
Charly Rexach, the first team director, expressed an instant interest in signing him. Barcelona was given until December 14 to prove their commitment, and because Rexach was out of paper, he offered a contract on a paper napkin.
Messi’s first season in Spain saw minimal action with the Infantiles due to a transfer conflict with Newell’s; as a foreign player, he was only permitted to participate in friendlies and the Catalan league. Without football, he struggled to fit in; always reserved by nature, at first, he was so quiet that his teammates mistook him for being mute. He experienced home sickness while staying in Barcelona with his father.
Career
Messi moved to Barcelona with his family when he was 13 years old and started playing for FC Barcelona’s under-14 squad. For the youth squad, he scored 21 goals in 14 games. He advanced fast through the higher-level teams, and at the age of 16, he made his unofficial FC Barcelona debut in a friendly game.
During the 2004–05 season, Messi, who was 17 at the time, broke the record for being the youngest player and goal scorer in La Liga, Spain’s top football league. Despite standing only 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 metres) tall and weighing only 148 pounds (67 kg), he was a strong, balanced, and versatile player on the field. Messi was a natural passer with a left foot, pace, and the capacity to handle the ball nicely.
He could effortlessly swerve through places that were heavily protected. His acquisition of Spanish citizenship in 2005 was met by conflicting reactions among Barcelona’s ardently Catalan supporters. Messi and Barcelona won the Champions League (the European club championship) the year after that.
Messi’s talent developed significantly over the years, and by 2008, he was among the best players in the world, finishing second to Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the voting for the FIFA World Player of the Year award. As Barcelona successfully defended their La Liga title in 2009–10, Messi scored 34 goals in home matches and Messi received the Golden Shoe award for being Europe’s top scorer that year.
After his historic season, which saw him win the 2012 world player of the year title, Messi became the first player to receive the honour four times. Messi led Barcelona to a La Liga and Copa del Rey championship in 2015–16 thanks to his 41 goals across all competitions. With 45 goals, he helped Barcelona win the La Liga and Copa del Rey titles once more in 2017–18.
In December 2019, he won his career’s sixth Ballon d’Or. Messi’s sixth career title came in the 2020–21 Copa del Rey, which Barcelona won. Financial issues that were partially a result of La Liga rules made it challenging for him to re-sign with Barcelona when he became a free agent in 2021. He left the squad having achieved a number of goals, including being the league’s all-time leading scorer of goals (474). Later in 2021, he signed with Paris St.-Germain.
He was a member of the Argentina team that won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, played for his nation in the 2006 World Cup, and scored twice in five games as Argentina won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Messi helped Argentina go to the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, when it was eliminated by Germany for the second time in a row.
At the 2014 World Cup, Messi put up an impressive performance, scoring four goals and nearly single-handedly advancing an offensively anaemic Argentina squad past the group stage and into the knockout rounds, where Argentina eventually progressed to the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost that game 1-0 to Germany, but Messi was still considered the tournament’s top performer and was given the Golden Ball trophy.
Messi declared his “retirement” from the national team in 2016 after Argentina lost in the Copa final, the team’s third straight finals defeat in a major competition. However, Messi’s brief “retirement” only lasted less than two months before he made the announcement that he was rejoining the Argentine team. He assisted an underdog Argentine team at the 2018 World Cup get to the round of 16, where they lost to eventual champion France in their opening game.
Messi and Argentina won the World Cup on December 18, 2022, after defeating France 4-2 on penalties at Lusail Stadium following a 3-3 tie in extra time. Messi scored twice in the shootout and successfully converted his penalty. Messi won the Golden Ball for player of the tournament, becoming the first player to do it twice. With seven goals in seven games, Messi became the first player to score in each stage of a World Cup since the last-16 round was established in 1986.
Personal Life
He wed Roccuzzo on June 30, 2017, at Rosario’s Hotel City Center, a five-star hotel. Messi and his family practise Catholicism. They have 3 kids together.
