Early life Lionel Messi

Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, to parents Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner.His paternal family originates from the Italian city of Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883.He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named María Sol. At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. Primera División club River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for treatment for his condition which cost $900 a month. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida, Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial. Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin. Barcelona offered to pay for Messi's medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain, so Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in the club's youth academy.

Messi Performance

 

Johannesburg, Jun 13: Argentina coach Maradona says that he is 'mesmerized' with Lionel Messi's performance which helped the team to have a 1-0 win over Nigeria in Group B at the FIFA World Cup 2010. "If Lionel Messi is enjoying himself, then so are the rest of us,"was the comment of Maradona over his successor's performance."I want Messi to be very close to the ball. As long as he has fun, then we are all going to have fun. Football wouldn't be beautiful unless Messi is touching the ball all the time. He performed magic today on the pitch," said Maradonna.The outstanding saves by Vincent Enyeama, the Nigerian goalkeeper denied Messy a goal of his own, though he gave the Nigerian defence a sweltering time. "It would be my best personal performance playing against the best player in the world. For now you cannot take that away from me and that's the best game in my career," said Enyeama about Messi. "It is important to get off to a winning start while playing good football," said Messi who as at his inspirational best through out the match.

By http://news.oneindia.in/2010/06/13/maradona-mesmerized-with-messi-performance.html

Lionel Messi Footballer

 

Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified by Barcelona. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 2004–05 season, he broke his team record for the youngest footballer to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in the 2006–07 season; he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Messi then had the most successful season of his playing career, the 2008–09 season, in which he scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign. This record breaking season was then eclipsed in the following 2009–10 campaign, where Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo's record total for Barcelona. He surpassed this record in the 2010–11 season with 53 goals in all competitions.

Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi]; born 24 June 1987 in Rosario) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team as a forward or winger. Considered one of the best football players of his generation, Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009 and 2010. His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".

LIonel Messi