Lionel Messi

Newell's Old Boys

Messi started playing for the Rosario-based football club Newell's Old Boys when he was seven years old; he would become a lifelong supporter of the club. During the six years he played for Newell's, he scored almost 500 goals, and was a member of "The Machine of '87", a nearly unbeatable youth team named for the year of their birth. Messi regularly entertained crowds by performing ball tricks during half-time, when the Newell's first team played home games. His goalscoring idol growing up was Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who Messi called "the best forward I've ever seen". Messi's future as a professional player was threatened when, at the age of 10, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. He began growth hormone therapy at age 11; however, his father's health insurance covered only two years of the therapy, which cost at least 1,000 pesos per month. Newell's agreed to contribute, but later reneged on their promise. Messi was scouted by the Buenos Aires club River Plate, whose playmaker Pablo Aimar he idolised. It was speculated for a time that Messi failed to sign with River Plate due to his ill health; however, in a 2019 interview, he revealed that River Plate had wanted to sign him after he scored four goals at a trial, and even offered to pay for his medical treatment, but Newell's refused to release his player card, preventing the transfer.

Barcelona

As the Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, they sought to arrange a…

Barcelona

2004–2008: Rise to the first team

Messi began the 2004–05 season as a guaranteed starter for the Barcelona B team, but after some lobbying by the senior players, he was promoted to the first team by manager Frank Rijkaard. He made his La Liga debut for Barcelona on 16 October 2004, at 17 years old. He scored his first senior goal on 1 May 2005, becoming the youngest-ever scorer for the club at the time. He was at that time the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition, and the club won the league title during that season. On his 18th birthday, Messi signed his first contract as a senior team player, which kept him with Barcelona through 2010, and had a release clause of €150 million. Three months later, as his performance continued to make waves, his contract was updated to double his salary and keep him with the club until 2014. By the end of the 2005–06 season, Barcelona had won La Liga again as well as the UEFA Champions League. During the 2006–07 season, Messi scored his first hat-trick during a game against Real Madrid, becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a Clásico in 12 years. Two goals scored by Messi against Getafe and Espanyol during the season drew notice for their similarities to two famous goals scored by fellow Argentine Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup match against England, leading to comparisons between Messi and Maradona that would endure throughout Messi's career. Barcelona finished…

As a citizen of both Argentina and Spain, Messi was eligible to play for both national teams. He began his international career in 2004 with Argentina's U20 team, and was subsequently included in the squad for the 2005 South American U-20 Championship, in which they finished third. Messi then led the team to victory in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. He finished the tournament with six goals and two assists, and won the Golden Ball.

Messi made his debut with the senior national team in 2005, at age 18, and scored his first international goal in a 2006 friendly against Croatia. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he became the youngest player to represent and score for Argentina at the World Cup, where he scored in his debut match. Messi was named the best young player of the 2007 Copa América, during which he scored two goals and provided one assist. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Messi led Argentina's U23 team to claim the Olympic gold medal over Nigeria; he was singled out by FIFA as the stand-out player from the tournament's best team. With the international retirement of Juan Román Riquelme in 2009, Messi was given Argentina's number 10 shirt. Argentina built their team around Messi ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2011 Copa América; Messi scored no goals during either tournament, as the team suffered quarter-final exits on both occasions. At 24 years old, Messi became captain of the national team, but over the next several years was unable to lead Argentina to a…

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina. His father, Jorge Messi (1958–2026), was the head of department at an Acindar pressed steel manufacturing plant in Villa Constitución. His mother, Celia Cuccittini, worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop. Messi's parents met as youngsters in the Las Heras district of Rosario, where Messi would later grow up. Jorge and Celia married in 1978, after Jorge completed military service in the Argentine Armed Forces. On his father's side, Messi is of Italian and Spanish descent, the great-grandson of immigrants from the Marche region of Italy (with his surname coming from Porto Recanati), and on his mother's side he has primarily Italian ancestry. Growing up in a tight-knit, football-loving family, "Leo" developed a passion for the sport from an early age, playing constantly with his older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom later became professional footballers. Messi also has a younger sister, María Sol. At the age of four, Messi joined the local football club Abanderado Grandoli where he was coached by his father. His maternal grandmother, Celia, accompanied him to training and matches. He was greatly affected by her death, shortly before his eleventh birthday. Since then, as a devout Catholic, he has celebrated his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky in tribute to his grandmother. Messi has a general understanding of…