On account of the birthday of the man who inspired me to make this blog, this post is all about him. But today’s post is not about one of my favourite soccer players but instead it’s about a kid who grew up with growth hormone deficiency disorder but overcame it, is now married his high school best friend Antonella, has 3 kids and has a weekly salary of over $667k, yes per week, but is still one of the most humble players of all time and of course the man who raised the bar for all the future soccer players. So let’s get messi.
At age 10, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency disorder. But because of his amazing soccer skills, his spanish cousin arranged a trial for him with Barcelona officials. First team director Charly immediately wanted to sign him, but the board of directors hesitated. But he was eventually signed and the club paid for his treatment. According to UK’s the sun, Messi’s informal contract was actually signed on a tissue paper because there wasn’t any paper nearby but the director Charly was amazed by the dwarfs skills. Messi has been playing with Barcelona ever since and plans to retire there too.
Now most fans know that Messi has a classic “pointing at the sky” goal celebration and A few years ago, Messi told the world why he usually celebrates his goals by pointing and looking at the sky. He told his fans in an interview “I am doing this because I dedicate my goals to my grandmother. She took to me to football but now she can’t see how far I have come. Nevertheless, she continues to help me and my family from above.” Unlike other soccer players Messi celebrates his goals in a calm manner to thank the person whose words have inspired him to become the person who he is today but obviously when you score more than one goal in most of the games, there isn’t any harm in adding a few extra celebrations up your sleeve right?
Now let’s talk achievements! After all, Messi isn’t called the god of football or soccer all over the world just because of his goal scoring skills but his development as a versatile player from the very beginning. Don’t agree with me? Well, after seeing Messi play with the senior squad for the first time, Ronaldinho, the ex-Barcelona star player told his squad that he believes that this 16 year old will become an even better player than himself and soon helped Messi improve and called him “little brother”. According to ESPN, Lionel Messi also has his very own adjective added to the Spanish dictionary – a word that’s sole application is to describe just how amazing Lionel Messi is. The word in question is “inmessionante”, and is defined in the dictionary as the perfect way to play football or soccer. In terms of statistics, Messi currently has 6 Ballon d’ors, 6 golden shoes, 6 UEFA golden boots, 10 la Liga titles, 6 Copa del Rey, 7 Supercopas, 4 UEFA champions league, 3 UEFA super cups and 3 FIFA club WCs.
In the perfect words of Bayern’s Ribery, “Messi is class. There is him and then there is the rest. What he does is extraordinary.” On that note, Happy 33rd Birthday Lionel Messi!
