Messi biography Personal life

St. Petersburg 2nd Krasnoarmeyskaya St. Forward “Barcelona” Lionel Messi as a boy of a poor family with a congenital disease that required expensive treatment, overcame all the difficulties on the way to the five -fold rank of the best football player in the world? Read more about the path of Leo Messi for success in our material. Childhood and family Lionel Andres Messi was born on June 24 in the Argentine city of Rosario.

The ancestors of Messi are from the Italian city of Ancona, emigrated to Argentina in the year. The family was large: Lionel has the older brothers Matias and Rodrigo and sister Maria. The future champion Lionel began to play football at 5 years old. His father worked as a coach at the local Grandoli football club, but for the first time his grandmother, the only family member, who believed in his success in the football field, brought Lionel to classes.

Many years have passed, Messi became the greatest football player, and still after every goal scored, he raises his hands up - in honor of his grandmother, who left this world when he was 10 years old. The team, in which Messi began playing football on the 2nd on the right in the upper row at 8, Lionel began playing for the Professional Football Club "Newels Old Boys" and soon became the captain of the team.

In the year, Leo, together with the club, won the Friendship Cup Peru. The terrible news destroyed the boy’s dreams of a football career. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a deficiency of somatotropin, growth hormone. Annual treatment would cost 11 thousand dollars, which was not allowed either by the leadership of the "River Plate", nor, moreover, Messi's parents.

Lionel Messi in childhood, Father Leo realized that the only chance was to take his son to the Barcelona's reviews at Barcelona previously showed interest in a gifted athlete. The football agent Orasio Hajioli, who took the boy to Spain, came to the rescue. I realized that he would grow up with a great player. ” There was no paper at hand, and Carles sketched the text of the contract on the napkin.

Messi joined the Youth team of Barcelona and began training at the La Masia football academy. At that time, Juventus coach Fabio Capello offered Barcelona to bite Messi for a profitable amount, but he was refused. Messi’s growth is centimeters, but if he could not get into Barcelona and get the necessary injections, according to the forecasts of doctors, he would hardly overcome the centimeter bar.

The football career Messi's debut in the main composition of Barcelona took place on November 17. It was a friendly match against Porto. Then the authoritative Spanish newspaper El Mundo responded to his game as follows: “The boy has a maradona leg, the speed of Kroof and Pas Ronaldinho.” Young Messi: The debut in Barcelona was the first official match for Messi was Barcelona - Espanyola on October 16.

At the Championship of Spain, the Summer Lionel, which was replaced, scored his first goal in the “adult” team of FC Albaseta. In September, he received the citizenship of Spain. In the Champions League, he made his debut on December 7 of the same year. The match with the Ukrainian “Shakhtar” was lost in favor of Ukrainians his first ball in the Champions League, he scored in the match against FC Panatinaikos on November 2 in the final match of the League, he could not take part due to injury.

In December of the same year, he was awarded the title of Golden Boy as the best young player under 21. Messi goals, who shocked the world in the year of Messi debut for the Argentine national team. He will never forget this match against Hungary: after 47 seconds, he received a red card, fled to the locker room and burst into tears. Messi's first match in Argentina’s national team was unsuccessful at the Championships of Spain of the season of the year Lionel, with the help of his famous hat-trick, ended the match in a draw and received 3rd place in the nomination of the Golden Ball and 2nd place in the nomination FIFA, bypassing critician Ronaldo.

In the same year, Leo participated in the Olympic Games in Beijing as part of the Argentina national team. The Barcelona football club did not want to let go of his best scorer for a long time, and only after a conversation with the head coach of Guardiola Club agreed to release Messi. Argentina took first place. Lionel also became the owner of the golden ball as the best player in Europe.

And in the same year, the team with the help of the best scorer Lionel won 6 titles. At such an early age - 22 years - no one was still able to achieve such high results. At the World Cup, Messi played in Argentina’s national team against the Nigeria national team, the match ended with an account in favor of the Argentines. Lionel had many opportunities to score a goal, but the Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enonyama saved the team over and over again.

The most successful Barcelona player in the match with Greece Messi entered the field as the youngest captain in the history of Argentina’s national team, the match ended in favor of the Argentines in the year of the Barcelona match-“Seville” ended in order to get the cup, the team needed to score two goals for the match, but also coped with this, received trophy for the last time, largely thanks to the famous one thanks to the famous Hyt-trick Messi.

In the fourth round of the League against Copenhagen, a goal scored by Leo, made the scorer with the new record holder of Barcelona in the history of the European Cup.In the response match, the Catalans won thanks to the goal that Messi scored. It was his goal in the professional league. Lionel Messi received the Golden Ball four times in a row on August 25, journalists from EFS member countries during the draw determined the winners of the League tournament in Monaco: 39 votes were given to Lionel Messi, from now on-the best player in Europe.

The second hat-trick was framed against the Madrid team of Atletico on September 24. Lionel scored glasses, ahead of the tennis player Novak Djokovic and Formula-1 Rotelier Sebastian Vettel. Newspaper editorials reported that Messi is the first football player from the year to win this nomination. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rivals on the field in March in the match Barcelona - Granada, having scored 3 goals, Leo set a record of the effectiveness of all official matches of Barca.

In the total amount, the Messi account was already clogged with the ball. In this match, Messi has two goals and two assists. According to the results of the championship, Lionel became the best scorer: he scored 50 goals, thereby bypassing the leader of Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo. In February, in a match with the Switzeri national team, Messi again distinguished himself with his famous hat-trick, which led to the victory of the Argentina national team with an account after each goal scored, Messi recalls the grandmother of Messi as part of Barcelona on October 27 on October 27, he scored in the gates of the Valkano in his career.

And at the end of the year, he was recognized as the best football player of the year according to the World Soccer magazine, winning Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta. A month later, in Zurich, Lionel Messi became a four -time winner of the Golden Ball Award - the fourth year in a row. At the end of the year, he lost the title of the best player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo, and at the beginning of next year he took only second place in the struggle for the Golden Ball.

But in March, in the framework of the 28th round of the Championship of Spain, he issued a hat-trick, bringing his head for the Catalans to Messi became the best scorer in the history of Barcelona in all tournaments. In the World Cup, Argentina’s national team successfully performed and reached the final, where she lost the German national team with an account of the Messi World Cup in which he scored four goals.

He was recognized as the best player in the mundial. In the year, the Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia shot a one and a half hour documentary about Messi, in which he told the story of his success in detail. The tape includes many videos from the archive of the football player. In July, Lionel Messi agreed on a new contract with Barcelona. It was assumed that the new agreement would operate up to a year and that at the time of its end, the football player will already continue his career in Barcelona in November of the same year, Messi, as part of the Argentina national team, came to Moscow.

The teams of Argentines and Russia met as part of a friendly match. Messi spent a whole week in the capital, to the joy of dozens of brave fans who made a joint selfie with a star of world football. The week turned out to be difficult, and not only because of a huge number of people who wanted to take a picture-on the fifth day of the visit, during training, snow was snowing over the stadium.

In August, Messi announced the decision to leave Barcelona, ​​taking advantage of the right to terminate the contract with the club unilaterally. It was reported that the striker wants to go to Manchester City. However, later the football player changed the decision and remained in the team. Messi leaves Barcelona in the fall of the year Lionel Messi spoke about the death of Diego Maradona, noting that the loss of the athlete is very serious for the Argentines and for football as a whole.

Everyone was sure that the Argentine would sign a new contract with the Catalan club, but this, alas, did not happen. It turned out that it is impossible to conclude an agreement because of a number of "financial and structural obstacles prescribed in the Rules of the Spanish League." Problems with the law in the year of Messi and his father were accused of tax fraud. According to the Spanish prosecutor's office, they did not pay more than 4 million euros to the national treasury.

Both defendants denied their guilt. Messi and his father in court in the year of Horge and Lionel sentenced to year and 9 months of imprisonment. However, the legislation allowed them to get rid of fines: Messi Jr. paid 2 million euros, his father-1 million. The young model and a football player is introduced by the girl’s father, eager to advise her daughter. However, their relationship did not work out - Lionel's mother opposed, and there were no particularly warm feelings between them.

In the year, Lionel was seen on a carnival in the site with a miniature dark -haired girl. She knocked out of a series of casual blondes, who are used to seeing next to Messi. In an interview, the football player confirmed the seriousness of the intentions: "I have a friend, and she lives in Argentina, and I am happy with her." Lionel Messi and Antonella Rokutzzo later found out that her name is Antonella Rokutzzo, and she was also a native of the city of Rosario, moreover, they have been familiar from childhood: their parents were friends, and Leo himself played on the field with the cousin Antonella.

Messi and his wife have been familiar from childhood in November in Lionel and Antonella a son, who was called Tiago. In honor of this event, the football player filled a tattoo on his leg with his name and image of his hands. Lionel Messi with his son, in addition, on Messi’s back, a tattoo with a portrait of his grandmother was full of the very first athlete tattoo, on the lower leg - the number “10” and a dagger, on his hand - Jesus in a thorns crown, and on the elbow - a stained glass window of one of the churches of his hometown.

One of the Messi tattoos on June 30, Messi and Antonella formalized their relationship. The wedding of the football player Barcelona and his childhood girlfriends took place at the Rosario hotel. The ceremony was attended by guests and representatives of the press. In honor of the wedding, they made paired tattoos on their fingers - the date of their wedding, written by Roman numbers.