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Lionel Messi The God of Soccer

Categories: Soccer

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 563 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Bibliography:

Wilson, Jonathan. "The Messi Thesis." The New York Times, 15 June 2018.
Balague, Guillem. "Messi." Orion Publishing Group, 2012.
Burns, Jimmy. "Lionel Messi: The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became a Legend." Pan Macmillan, 2012.

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Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi, a forward for Inter Miami CF, is one of the world’s greatest soccer players and helped the Argentina national team win its third FIFA World Cup in 2022.

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1987-present

Lionel Messi News: Soccer Star Is the Subject of a New Apple TV+ Docuseries

Messi, now playing for Inter Miami CF of the MLS, helped his home country win soccer’s biggest event for the first time since 1986, scoring two goals in the final and leading Argentina to a 4-2 win over Kylian Mbappé and France on penalties. Argentina’s captain was also named the tournament MVP.

The new series follows up Messi Meets America , Apple’s 2023 look at the star striker’s arrival and first season in the MLS. Inter Miami begins the 2024 regular season also on February 21 with a match against Real Salt Lake.

Quick Facts

Early life of a soccer prodigy, club teams: barcelona, psg, and inter miami, argentina national team, tax fraud scandal, wife and children, charity and unicef, who is lionel messi.

Lionel Messi is an Argentinian soccer player who has played for FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and currently, the MLS club Inter Miami CF as well as the Argentina national team. As a teenager, Messi moved from Argentina to Spain after FC Barcelona agreed to pay for medical treatments related to his growth hormone disorder. At the club, he earned renown as one of the greatest players in history, helping FC Barcelona win more than two dozen league titles and tournaments. In 2012, he set a record for most goals in a calendar year and, a decade later, helped the Argentina national team win its third FIFA World Cup. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, and in July 2023, he joined Inter Miami.

FULL NAME: Luis Lionel Andres Messi BORN: June 24, 1987 BIRTHPLACE: Rosario, Argentina SPOUSE: Antonella Roccuzzo (2017-present) CHILDREN: Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Luis Lionel Andres “Leo” Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. As a young boy, Messi tagged along when his two older brothers played soccer with their friends, unintimidated by the bigger boys. At the age of 8, he was recruited to join the youth system of Newell’s Old Boys, a Rosario-based club.

Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Messi was eventually diagnosed by doctors as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth. Messi’s parents, Jorge and Ceclia, decided on a regimen of nightly growth-hormone injections for their son, though it soon proved impossible to pay several hundred dollars per month for the medication.

So, at the age of 13, when Messi was offered the chance to train at soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona’s youth academy, La Masia, and have his medical bills covered by the team, Messi’s family picked up and moved across the Atlantic to make a new home in Spain. Although he was often homesick in his new country, Messi moved quickly through the junior system ranks.

Ultimately, Messi’s short stature—5 feet, 7 inches—combined with his speed and relentless attacking style, has drawn comparisons to another famous Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona .

Messi played for FC Barcelona for 17 seasons before joining Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 for two seasons. In July 2023, he joined the MLS club Inter Miami.

FC Barcelona

At age 13, Messi signed with FC Barcelona. His first appearance for the team was when he was 16. On May 1, 2005, Messi put himself in the record books as the youngest player to ever score a goal for the franchise.

Messi steered Barcelona to a wealth of success, most notably in 2009, when the left-footer’s team captured the Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup titles. That same year, after two consecutive runner-up finishes, he took home his first FIFA World Player of the Year honor, as well as his first Ballon d’Or award, the top European individual honor in football.

Messi became the first Argentinian player to win the Ballon d’Or. Even the great Maradona gushed about his fellow countryman. “I see him as very similar to me,” the retired player told the BBC. “He’s a leader and is offering lessons in beautiful football. He has something different than any other player in the world.”

Amazingly, the soccer wizard continued to improve, discovering new ways to elude defenders while leading Barcelona to La Liga and Spanish Super Cup championships in 2010 and 2011, as well as the ’11 Champions League title.

Messi embarked on an all-out assault on the record books in 2012. He became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League match in early March, and a few weeks later, he surpassed Cesar Rodriguez’s club-record 232 goals to become Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer. By the end of the year, Messi had accumulated an astounding 91 goals in club and international play, eclipsing the 85 netted in a single calendar year by Gerd Muller in 1972. Fittingly, he broke another record when he was named the Ballon d’Or winner for the fourth consecutive time.

In 2013, the soccer great came back to earth somewhat due to the persistence of hamstring injuries, but he regained his record-breaking form by becoming the all-time leading scorer in La Liga and Champions League play in late 2014.

After helping Barcelona achieve a historic second treble in 2015, he was honored with his fifth Ballon d’Or trophy. Four years later, following another La Liga title, Messi again established a new standard for excellence by claiming his sixth Ballon d’Or.

On August 5, 2021, FC Barcelona announced it couldn’t resign Messi due to the team’s budget constraints and La Liga restrictions. Despite having voiced his desire to leave the club the prior season, Messi bid a teary farewell after 17 seasons: “This is really difficult for me after so many years spent here, being here my entire life. I’m not ready for this.”

Paris Saint-Germain

lionel messi dribbles and looks down at a soccer ball on a grass field, he wears a dark navy soccer uniform, and an opponent player watches from behind

Four days after the shocking news from FC Barcelona, Messi signed with Paris Saint-Germain. The 34-year-old inked a two-year contract with the French club. The move saw him reunite with former teammate Neymar as well as the talented Kylian Mbappé.

Messi made his debut for the club on August 29, 2021, and scored his first goal that September. PSG won two Ligue 1 titles with Messi but twice failed to advance beyond the round of 16 in the Champions League finals.

Although his contract allowed for an optional third year at PSG, the team announced it would release Messi as a free agent when the deal expired on June 30, 2023. Earlier in the year, the club suspended and fined Messi after he visited Saudi Arabia on an unauthorized trip. This all but sealed fate on the soccer legend’s widely expected move.

Messi’s last game for PSG was June 3, 2023. In total, he started in 72 games, notching 32 goals and 34 assists.

Inter Miami CF

lionel messi looks at a midair soccer ball as an opponent faces him, messi wears a pink and black uniform, the opponent wears a black and gold uniform

On June 7, 2023, Messi told two Spanish media outlets he planned to play for the MLS club Inter Miami CF, which is partially owned by former soccer player David Beckham . “I have made the decision that I am going to Miami,” Messi said at the time, per ESPN . Messi later told Time he strongly considered joining a Saudi Arabian team before deciding on Inter Miami.

A little over a month later, on July 16, the team officially welcomed him on a 2.5-year contract that runs through the 2025 season. The deal was reportedly worth around $150 million , including an annual salary between $50 million and $60 million , a signing bonus, revenue sharing with the league’s media partner, and team equity upon retirement.

Inter Miami immediately benefitted on and off the field from their new team captain’s presence. The club went on a 12-match winning streak and captured the Leagues Cup, an annual tournament between teams from the MLS and Liga MX. Messi wound up scoring 11 goals in 14 games overall. However, with Messi injured late in the season, Inter Miami went winless in seven straight and failed to qualify for the playoffs. He was named the club’s 2023 MVP in November.

Messi has directly boosted revenue for the team, as well. Attendance at home games spiked 40 percent , the most in the MLS. According to The Athletic , the least expensive Inter Miami season ticket prices rose from $485 to $884 per seat from 2023 to 2024. Even with the price jump, Inter Miami announced 2024 season tickets sold out at the end of November, two months out of the start of the preseason. Not surprisingly, his jersey became the top seller in the MLS .

Messi and Inter Miami open the 2024 MLS regular season on February 21.

lionel messi sits in a stairwell and holds a soccer ball on his knees, he smiles at the camera and wears an argentina national team uniform

In summer 2005, Messi quickly made a name for himself on his native country’s under-20 squad. He led Argentina to the title in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring on a pair of penalty kicks to propel the team over Nigeria. Less than two months later, he made his pro debut with Argentina in an August friendly match against Hungary but played less than two minutes before receiving a red card and being ejected from the game.

For all his success with Barcelona, Messi repeatedly came under fire for his inability to help Argentina’s national team win a major title. In the 2014 World Cup, Argentina lost to Germany in the final, though Messi was named player of the tournament that year. In 2016, following Argentina’s second consecutive loss to Chile in the final of the Copa America tournament, Messi announced he was ending his run with the national team.

The soccer great eventually reversed his decision, but his participation in the 2018 World Cup did not bring that elusive title, as hoped. After Messi scored an early goal in a 2-1 win over Nigeria that helped his team advance from the group stage, he was largely kept in check by France, his two assists not enough to stave off a 4-3 defeat that sent Argentina packing.

The following year, after Messi heavily criticized the referees in the wake of a 2-0 loss to Brazil in the Copa America semifinals, the Argentine captain was slapped with a three-game ban by the South American Football Confederation.

At last, in 2021 and 2022, Argentina and Messi found enough traction to bring home trophies that had long evaded them. First, the team won the Copa America—Argentina’s first major title in 28 years—in August 2021, besting Brazil in the final. Captain Messi tied for top goal scorer, alongside Colombia’s Luis Diaz, and was named player of the tournament. The next year, greater glory awaited at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

lionel messi kisses a gold trophy after his team won the 2022 fifa world cup, he wears an argentina national team jersey and holds the trophy in his hands

Argentina captured the World Cup trophy on December 18, 2022, after a thrilling game against France that ended in a penalty shootout. Messi was named the Best FIFA Men’s Player for a second time and broke the record for most World Cup appearances with 26 games. Six jerseys that Messi had worn during the victorious championship run later sold for more than $7.8 million at auction.

In fall 2023, Messi scored three goals in qualifying games for the 2026 World Cup. However, as he nears the twilight of the his career, the soccer legend has adopted a realistic attitude about his future. “As long as I feel that I am fine and I can continue contributing, I am going to do it. Today, the only thing I think about is getting to the Copa America well and being able to compete in it,” Messi said of the 2024 tournament. “Then time will tell if I am [at the World Cup] or not. I’m going to be at an age (39) that normally doesn’t allow me to play in the World Cup.”

Messi won FIFA’s World Player Trophy five times, including four consecutive wins between 2009 and 2012, and has collected its contemporary the Best FIFA Men’s Player three times, in 2019, 2022, and 2023.

The soccer legend has won Europe’s Ballon d’Or a record eight times. When he won the Ballon d’Or in October 2023, Messi became the first active MLS player to do so. He’s also won the European Golden Shoe for top scorer six times, two more than his nearest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo .

In 2023, Time magazine named Messi its Athlete of the Year, pointing to his remarkable impact on soccer’s growing popularity in the United States.

In July 2016, Messi suffered a blow off the soccer field when a Barcelona court found him and his father guilty of three counts of tax fraud. During a four-day trial, Messi and his father denied breaking the law and claimed they were unaware of any tax illegalities they had committed.

However, they were both sentenced to 21 months in prison. Under Spanish law, first offenses under two years are suspended so they did not go to jail, but Messi was ordered to pay a fine of 2 million euros. His father was required to pay 1.5 million euros.

lionel messi, his wife, and three youth sons walk on a soccer field, all are wearing argentina national team jerseys and messi is holding up the fifa world cup trophy, behind them is a crowd in the stands

On June 30, 2017, Messi married Antonella Roccuzzo, his longtime girlfriend and the cousin of his best friend and fellow soccer player Lucas Scaglia. Messi met Roccuzzo in their hometown of Rosario when he was 5 years old. Their marriage, a civil ceremony dubbed by Argentina’s Clarín newspaper as the “wedding of the century,” was held at a luxury hotel in Rosario, with a number of fellow star soccer players and Colombian pop star Shakira on the 260-person guest list.

Messi and Roccuzzo have three children together: Thiago, born in November 2012; Mateo, born in September 2015; and Ciro, born in March 2018.

Although famously private off the field, Messi has quietly helped others in need. In 2007, he formed the Leo Messi Foundation to provide opportunities for disadvantaged youths. In early 2010, UNICEF named him a goodwill ambassador, with a focus on fighting for children’s rights across the globe.

Every time I start a year, I start with the objective of trying to achieve everything, without comparing it to how I’ve done in other seasons.
Whether it’s a friendly match, or for points, or a final, or any game—I play the same. I’m always trying to be my best, first for my team, for myself, for the fans and to try and win.
I am competitive, and I feel bad when we lose. You can see it in me when we’ve lost. I’m in a bad way. I don’t like to talk to anyone.
I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people. Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream.
I have fun like a child in the street. When the day comes when I’m not enjoying it, I will leave football.
I’ve never stopped being Argentine, and I’ve never wanted to. I feel very proud of being Argentine, even though I left there. I’ve been clear about this since I was very young, and I never wanted to change.
Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win. I’ve always had this ability to get up and get on with it.
I wasn’t teased as a child for my size. In fact, I think I had more affection because I was small.
I am lucky, I live by my passion, and there are a lot of people who work, doing what they don't like and are badly paid for that.

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Lionel Messi winning World Cup would define him but he’s already among the greatest of all

There have been times when the weight of a nation’s febrile hopes and dreams appeared too great a burden for Lionel Messi .

It made him anxious, sick with nerves. It made the fear of failure unbearable and the pain of defeat even worse.

Fernando Signorini, Argentina’s former fitness coach, recalls seeing Messi stagger into their dressing room, zombie-like, after a crushing 4-0 defeat by Germany in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, and collapse to the floor. There he sat, slumped in a gap between two benches, inconsolable, shouting, wailing, howling, “almost convulsing”.

Messi never asked to be his country’s saviour. If Diego Maradona had the ebullient, rebellious personality to back up his extraordinary talent as a footballer, making him an Argentine cultural icon in the tradition of Che Guevara or Eva Peron, then Messi has always been a different type. His gifts earned him a status that was at odds with a quiet, shy, introverted nature.

Some mistook it for indifference to the national cause. Messi had left his homeland for Barcelona at the age of 13 and he mumbled his way through the national anthem before games whereas Maradona — in the stands, on the touchline, on grainy old VHS footage of his 1980s pomp — belted it out proudly and passionately. But Messi did care. Every failure on the international stage cut deep. If anything he cared too much.

By 2016, the burden felt too great. He had been to three World Cups: twice a beaten quarter-finalist, once a beaten finalist. Now came a fourth consecutive failure at the Copa America: a beaten finalist for a third time when, after a stalemate with Chile, he missed the target in the penalty shootout. Sergio Aguero said he had never seen his team-mate and close friend so “broken” as in the dressing room afterwards.

Messi couldn’t take it anymore.

“For me, the national team is over,” he said after that Copa America final, holding back the tears. “I’ve done all I can. It’s been four finals; I tried. It was the thing I wanted the most, but I couldn’t get it. It’s very hard, but the decision is taken. There will be no going back.”

Barely five days later, Argentine newspaper La Nacion reported that Messi had had a change of heart. Rather than listen to those who insisted he could never do what Maradona had done, he was desperate to defy them and lead Argentina to glory.

He had felt he could no longer live with the burden of his nation’s hopes and dreams. But on reflection, he couldn’t live without it.

Spool forward to December 2022, a Tuesday night in Qatar, and Messi, aged 35, looked like a man free of the burden that had weighed so heavy on his shoulders for so long.

He had just produced another masterclass as Argentina swept past Croatia to reach his second World Cup final . At the end, standing on the halfway line, he doubled over, hands on his knees, looking down at the turf.

Was he crying? No, he was smiling — and his grin got wider and wider as Leandro Paredes embraced him and lifted him off the ground and then other team-mates, fellow veterans including Nicolas Otamendi and Angel Di Maria , flocked towards him to do likewise.

Watching Messi in those minutes after the final whistle was heart-warming. He looked so incredibly happy, linking arms with his team-mates in a celebratory throng as they bounced up and down and sang along with the supporters:

Ahora nos volvimos a ilusionar

Quiero ganar la tercera

Quiero ser campeón mundial

Desde el cielo lo podemos ver

Con Don Diego y La Tota

Alentándolo a Lionel

Translation: “Guys, now we’re getting excited again. I want to win the third. I want to win to be world champion. And Diego, in the sky we can see him, with Don Diego and La Tota (Maradona’s parents), encouraging Lionel.”

The soundtrack to their campaign sounds better in Spanish, with an Argentinian accent. But then again, what doesn’t? There is another line about how “you will not understand the finals we lost, how many years I cried for them” but how victory over Brazil in the final of last year’s Copa America changed everything … and, yes, now they’re getting excited again.

So much of that excitement stems from Messi.

Enzo Fernandez , Julian Alvarez and others have impressed more and more as the tournament has gone on, but really Qatar 2022 feels almost as much like the Messi show as the 1986 World Cup felt like it was all about Maradona. Not quite the same — Maradona was 25, at the peak of his powers — but you don’t have to be obsessed with narrative and sporting history to recognise certain parallels.

One significant difference is that we know Sunday’s final against holders France will be his last shot at glory in the World Cup . He suggested as much before the tournament and reiterated that when he spoke to reporters on Tuesday night.

“It’s my last World Cup,” he said. “There’s a long way to go until the next one (in the summer of 2026), many years, and surely because of age I won’t get to it.”

But in many ways, he defies age. He cannot dart between defenders as quickly or as frequently as he used to, but the run that set up the third goal on Tuesday was a thing of beauty. Up against Josko Gvardiol , the most coveted young central defender in world football, Messi bamboozled the 20-year-old once on the right-hand touchline, then again, then again, along the byline, before teeing up Alvarez to make it 3-0. It really was glorious.

And now he stands on the threshold of… what exactly? Greatness? As subjective as the word might be, by any standard Messi achieved sporting greatness years ago. Greatest of his generation? To some of us, that also ceased to be a serious debate long ago, despite the brilliance, longevity and prolific strike rate of his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo .

Greatest of all time? Now that is a debate, albeit impossible to answer definitively when comparing players from eras as different as Pele, Maradona and Messi.

Is Messi the greatest? It's OK to debate it - don't let people ruin your fun

The lack of a World Cup winner’s medal has always been the one argument that can be held against Messi — for now at least. And here we come back to his struggle, in the past, to handle that suffocating pressure as confidently as, say, Maradona did. But is that a fair portrayal?

Remember Nike’s Write The Future advert before that 2010 World Cup? It proposed the tournament in South Africa as something that would define the lives of Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Franck Ribery, Fabio Cannavaro and others for better or for worse.

In Rooney’s case, the ad proposed that a misplaced pass might mean an angry boy tearing down his Rooney poster, England fans rioting in the street and the stock market crashing, leaving him to work as a groundsman while living in a caravan (a bit far-fetched, but the bearded version of this future self was, it turns out, spot-on), whereas racing back to retrieve the situation and tackle Ribery would see him knighted and his face carved into the White Cliffs of Dover.

We were never given a picture of what Ronaldo’s nightmare scenario might be, perhaps because anything less than a glorious future seemed inconceivable.

Instead we saw a glimpse of a future in which he cuts the ribbon on the Estadio Cristiano Ronaldo, makes a cameo in The Simpsons, is adored everywhere he goes and gets feted as he arrives at the premiere of Ronaldo: The Movie.

The ad concluded with Ronaldo standing over a free kick, a moment of truth, and imagining that a giant statue of him would be unveiled back home if he scores it. And as he struck the ball with that famous right foot — clad in a Nike boot, of course — the screen faded to black and we were left to contemplate how that World Cup might define the legacy of some of the game’s biggest stars.

It didn’t really, which is just as well. Rooney had a terrible tournament, lacking sharpness after injury, and got a lot of stick on his return home. Drogba scored one goal, against Brazil, but didn’t make the impact he had hoped as Ivory Coast failed to make the last 16. Cannavaro and Ribery also suffered elimination at the group stage with Italy and France respectively.

As for Ronaldo, he scored just once for Portugal — the sixth goal in a 7-0 victory over North Korea. After his team were eliminated in the round of 16, he looked down a TV camera’s lens and spat angrily. Afterwards he said, “I feel a broken man, completely disconsolate, frustrated, and an unimaginable sadness. I am a human being and I have the right to suffer alone.”

Messi, as mentioned at the start of this article, fared no better in South Africa. And the memory endures, having been beguiled by his performances for Barcelona that season, of him looking pale, almost ghost-like, as he walked through the mixed zone past the waiting journalists after that 4-0 thrashing by the Germans in Cape Town.

Reading Guillem Balague’s Messi biography, in which Signorini describes the harrowing scenes in the dressing room before that, it all adds up.

The World Cup is brutal.

Is the standard of the football as rarefied as it is in the later stages of the Champions League ? Almost certainly not. But that is a double-edged sword. At Barcelona, particularly under Pep Guardiola, Messi played in one of the most fluent, cohesive teams ever to have played the game. Then he went to South Africa and played for an Argentina side which, under Maradona’s management, was predictably chaotic — just as it was, more surprisingly, under Jorge Sampaoli at the 2018 World Cup.

Unlike Olympic athletes, who work in four-year cycles, trying to build towards a peak of performance at that precise point, footballers typically tend to turn up at World Cups mentally and physically drained at the end of a long season at club level. And in teams that are often makeshift by nature, star players such as Messi and Ronaldo — and Rooney back in the day, when he always seemed to arrive at tournaments carrying an injury — are expected to work their magic under extreme pressure, knowing that every game is do-or-die.

That didn’t stop Maradona producing a series of superhuman performances as he dragged Argentina to victory in 1986.

Contrary to some of the revisionism, it was hardly a team of no-hopers; many of them, including Jorge Burruchaga, had previously won or would go on to win the Copa Libertadores, while Jorge Valdano had just won La Liga with Real Madrid . But, whatever you have heard or read about Maradona in Mexico, his performances in the first three knockout ties against Uruguay, England and Belgium in particular were every bit as jaw-dropping at the time as legend suggests.

But that is the exception. To expect or demand that Messi and Ronaldo perform like Maradona in 1986 is simply not realistic. Maradona’s own experiences tell you that.

Maradona’s first World Cup, in 1982, ended in disgrace; having spent a fortnight in Spain being kicked from pillar to post, he planted his boot into the groin of Brazil midfielder Batista and was sent off. The second, four years later, everyone knows about. At risk of labouring the point, it was magnificent.

His third, in 1990, was perhaps a notch or two down from Messi’s 2014 one — excellent by anyone else’s standards, but a little disappointing by his own. And his last, in 1994 at age 33, ended in disgrace like the first, this time for testing positive for the banned drug ephedrine after a group-stage victory over Nigeria . The World Cup experience brought out the worst in Maradona, as well as the best.

You could say similar of Zinedine Zidane.

He, more than anyone, is synonymous with hosts France’s World Cup triumph in 1998, scoring twice in the final against Brazil, but he was sent off against Saudi Arabia in the group stage for stamping on an opponent and didn’t return until the quarter-final. Four years later, he missed France’s first two games through injury and was unable to spare them from defeat by Denmark and an early exit. His swansong in 2006 is much romanticised, but his red card in the final, for headbutting Marco Materazzi, seemed a classic example of a star player cracking under intense pressure as well as provocation.

Zidane's best moment vs Brazil was in the first minute. Was he really that good in 2006 quarter-final?

The great Brazilian striker Ronaldo returned from career-threatening injury to score eight goals at the 2002 finals, ending up with the Golden Boot as well as a winner’s medal, but he too would identify with the pressure Messi and others have experienced on the biggest stake.

Four years before that, he was mysteriously withdrawn from Brazil’s team for the final against France, only to be restored to the starting line-up at the last moment. The situation was shrouded in secrecy at the time, but rumours persisted that he had suffered a seizure and been sent to hospital for tests on the morning of the final — a story he verified in the recent documentary about his career and in an interview with The Athletic .

“A phenomenon cannot fail, cannot feel pain, cannot stop scoring,” the Brazilian said, referring to the pressure to avoid showing weakness as a 21-year-old superstar. “What happened in France in 1998 was what happens at the World Cup. Everyone’s attention is focused on it. The whole world stops to watch it.”

And in those moments, even the greatest players — Messi, both Ronaldos, Zidane and, yes, even Maradona — have been known to find the pressure overwhelming.

It would seem a little too convenient to suggest this is the first time Messi has appeared free from the burden of carrying Argentina’s hopes and dreams. He certainly showed no sign of feeling the pressure as a teenager in 2006, making a series of eye-catching cameos before surprisingly being left on the bench as his team were beaten on penalties by Germany in the quarter-finals.

Without question the pressure got the better of him in 2010 — there was too much noise around him, and Maradona the manager was not exactly a calming presence — but in Brazil four years later he looked far more like his Barcelona self.

He scored four times in the group, including characteristically superb strikes to defeat Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iran , and then laid on the decisive goal for Di Maria against Switzerland in the last 16. Messi dominated the quarter-final against Belgium too, albeit without scoring, but he was quieter in the semi-final, as Argentina edged past the Netherlands on penalties, and in the final against Germany, when Mario Gotze broke the deadlock in the second half of extra time. Germany took their best chance and Argentina, specifically Gonzalo Higuain, missed theirs.

On such moments does history turn.

At Russia 2018, Messi clearly struggled. That was an old Argentina squad, mediocre in some areas, that had only narrowly scraped through the qualifying campaign thanks to his hat-trick in the final game away to Ecuador. In the group stage, he missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Iceland and then looked defeated and demoralised during a 3-0 loss to Croatia .

Back home, newspaper La Nacion quoted one squad insider as saying, “The Leo I know did not come to Russia. He is absent even when he is standing in front of you.”

Messi struck back decisively in the final group game against Nigeria, a sublime piece of control and equally adroit finish helping to take Argentina through to the knockout phase. Next they faced France, where Kylian Mbappe , more than a decade his junior, stole the show in a 4-3 win and Messi was left to wonder whether his last shot at World Cup glory had passed him by.

Prior to his death in 2020, Maradona often spoke sympathetically about Messi, pointing out the challenges and pressures he faced. On other occasions, he was withering.

“We shouldn’t deify Messi any longer,” Maradona said in late 2018. “He’s Messi when he plays or Barcelona (…) and he’s another Messi with Argentina. He’s a great player, but he’s not a leader. It’s useless trying to make a leader out of a man who goes to the toilet 20 times before a game.”

This seemed a cheap shot, but it has been a recurring theme throughout Messi’s international career: his lack of leadership, his lack of personality, his inability to do as Maradona did. And yet he has produced world-class performances year after year after for Barcelona and now Paris Saint-Germain at club level and, at times, for Argentina.

Maradona was a phenomenal, generational talent whose temperament drove him to glory at one World Cup, undermined him at two others and sadly curtailed his career at the highest level. There is no perfect personality type for team sport, but is hard to embrace the notion that Messi, still irresistible in his mid-30s, is the one of the two men with a fatal flaw.

But maybe Messi’s less obvious faults have held him back on occasions when the stakes have been highest and the pressure at its most intense.

As Balague writes in Messi: The Definitive Autobiography, “Leo has to co-exist with anxiety, nerves, mistrust, mood, security, motivation, distress — and his handling of them can increase or decrease his performance levels. Well managed, they bring with them wisdom. Out of control, they ensure chaos.”

And never is the threat of chaos greater than when playing for Argentina at the World Cup.

Easy to forget now, but it is less than three weeks since Argentina were facing up to the threat of humiliation.

Beaten by Saudi Arabia in their opening game , they were deadlocked for over an hour against Mexico four days later and, as the pressure increased, Messi seemed to be having one of those games where, like against Croatia in 2018, he was getting quieter and quieter, as if retreating to his shell.

And then … one touch to control and BANG, a fierce left-foot driven past Guillermo Ochoa from 25 yards and Argentina were on a roll at last.

As he ran off in celebration, before being mobbed by his mostly younger team-mates, you could see the sense of wonder on his face, eyes and mouth wide open. It looked more like relief than joy. The joy only set in when he set up Fernandez to make it 2-0 with three minutes of normal time to play.

Messi and Argentina haven’t looked back. He didn’t score against Poland in the final group match — in fact, he had a penalty saved by Wojciech Szczesny — but his all-round performance was mesmerising. Likewise in the last 16 against Australia , when he scored one of those goals which he alone is capable of making look so easy.

He converted a penalty against both the Netherlands in the quarter-final (as well as one in the shootout) and Croatia in the semi-final, but in both of those matches his assists were what really took the breath away: a no-look pass threaded between Nathan Ake ’s legs to set up Nahuel Molina against the Dutch and then that beguiling, bamboozling run past Gvardiol to set up Alvarez for the third on Tuesday.

If you were watching Messi for the first time, those moments would bring you to your feet. When you have been watching him for years, you know they are second nature to him, even at this stage of his career, but they don’t happen quite as often as they used to.

The difference is that this time he is doing it in the knockout phase of a World Cup — somewhere, remarkably, he and indeed his great rival Ronaldo had never scored a goal before.

Messi puts his new-found sense of tranquillity with Argentina down to various things: maturity, fatherhood, even diet, but he also cites the spirit of his team-mates — a far less star-studded squad than in 2006, 2010 and 2014 — and the influence of the coach, Lionel Scaloni, who has brought a greater sense of calm and unity than Sampaoli in 2018 and in particular Maradona in 2010.

That victory over Brazil in the Copa America last year brought Argentina’s first trophy since 1993, a huge weight lifted from their shoulders.

“This brings us more calmness,” Messi said after that nervy win against Mexico. It wasn’t easy to detect much of that in the closing stages against Australia or the Netherlands, but it has been fascinating to see the way Messi has shaped his team’s mood in Qatar.

Against Poland he was frantic, setting the tone for a hyper-energetic display. Against the Netherlands, he was on a war footing, stung by perceived slights from Louis van Gaal and some of his players. Against Croatia, he appeared calmer and more sure-footed than ever before in a game of such magnitude for his country.

All of which brings us to Sunday, a World Cup final and an opportunity for… greatness? Immortality? In sporting terms, Messi is already there, at or very near the top of the pantheon, along with Pele, Maradona and, at a stretch, one or two others.

Imagine watching someone perform as Messi has done for the best part of two decades — not just a total of 791 goals for club and country but the range of his finishes, the beguiling dribbles, the slide-rule passes and the game intelligence to appreciate space and geometry in a way he couldn’t begin to explain — and trying to argue that his claims to greatness will hinge on one match he plays when he is 35 years old. He marked himself for greatness at a young age and has constantly underscored that status ever since.

Yes, it is tempting to look at it through the prism of that Nike ad from 12 years ago — this way greatness, that way oblivion — but there are a handful of players who are so exceptional that they have elevated themselves far beyond such conversations.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of them.

He made history by becoming the first player to score at five World Cups, but his only real “Write The Future” moment across those five tournaments was a spectacular free kick to complete a hat-trick in a group match against Spain in 2018.

A disappointing total of eight goals across those five tournaments does not begin to reflect Ronaldo’s talent, but nor does it begin to define him. He is defined by being the record goalscorer in the history of Real Madrid, the Champions League and men’s international football and indeed by being one of the most famous people on the planet. That is all without ever coming close to winning a World Cup.

Messi could feasibly produce a vintage performance on Sunday but be unable to prevent a French victory. Or he could stay on the margins of the game and Argentina still win. In a team sport, conversations about greatness can never be reduced to a single match at the very back end of a player’s career — particularly when the player in question has proven his greatness over and over and over again.

But winning the World Cup final at this stage of his career really would be the crowning glory.

It would define an incredible career the way 1970 defined Pele and 1986 defined Maradona. It would mean achieving all he ever wanted — not just holding the World Cup in his hands at last but bringing joy to a nation which, perhaps more than any other, longs for success on the football pitch.

Messi has carried that burden for so long. As he nears the end of his odyssey, he finally looks comfortable with it.

Messi 'amor' is everywhere in Argentina, where he is 'all the super heroes in one'

(Top photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images; design by Eamonn Dalton)

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Before joining The Athletic as a senior writer in 2019, Oliver Kay spent 19 years working for The Times, the last ten of them as chief football correspondent. He is the author of the award-winning book Forever Young: The Story of Adrian Doherty, Football’s Lost Genius. Follow Oliver on Twitter @ OliverKay

Essay on Lionel Messi: My Favorite Sportsperson, Footballer & Icon

Last Updated on August 10, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar

This essay includes news from PSG updated to 2022. With five Ballon d’Or awards and four Champions League titles, Lionel Messi is widely considered one of the best football players in history. But many people argue that he is not only a great player, but also a great person. In this essay, I will explore the reasons why Lionel Messi is such an amazing individual both on and off the pitch.

My Favorite Sportsperson Messi

First and foremost, Lionel Messi is an incredible footballer. His natural talent and ability to read the game are second to none, and he has consistently shown himself to be a world-class performer. On the pitch, he is a magician with the ball at his feet, capable of scoring goals and creating chances for his teammates with equal ease.

Lionel Messi, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, has announced that he will be retiring from international soccer after the 2022 World Cup.

This comes as a surprise to many fans and analysts, who expected Messi to continue playing for Argentina for years to come. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at Messi’s career and why he might be making this decision.

We’ll also speculate on who could replace him as the face of Argentine soccer. My favorite sport is football. The club that I support is – FC Barcelona. Lionel Messi is my favorite footballer. He is also my favorite sportsperson. This essay is dedicated to Lionel Messi.

Lionel Messi is a legend of the modern game. He is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. Alongside Cristiano Ronaldo , Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the two best players of all time. But by far Messi is still the Favorite Sportsperson of all time!!

Coaches, pundits, and teammates describe him as a ‘magician’ and ‘alien’. Yes, he managed to perform extraordinary things on the field. I’ve been playing football since my childhood. When I was a kid, my parents used to take me to the nearest park, where I’d kick a football around.

Since then, I’ve been in love with this game. Gradually, I started playing football with my friends and other kids in the neighborhood. Such was our love for the game that we even formed a local club. We would take part in neighborhood and local football matches and tournaments.

What I’m trying to say is that I’ve been a huge fan of football since my childhood. The game has played an important role in shaping up my childhood and character. For example, football has taught me the importance of health and physical conditioning. It has also taught me the importance of sportsmanship and respect.

Apart from playing football, I’m also interested in watching it. I follow many European leagues and international tournaments on TV and the Internet. La Liga is my favorite domestic league and my favorite club is FC Barcelona.

I fell in love with this club due to one person – Lionel Messi. Whenever I’d tune in to watch FC Barcelona in action, this special player would manage to grab my eyeballs (with his performance). Lionel Messi has always been a special player. At FC Barcelona, he is a true legend.

Let me list down some of his popular personal honors, recognition, and awards. Here they are – Ballon d’Or (six times), European Golden Shoe (six times), FIFA World Player of the Year, La Liga Best Player (six times), and Pichichi (eight times). These are some of his individual honors. If I try to list them all, it will take up more space and make the essay very long!

Okay, it is time to check out some of his team honors and titles. Here they are – La Liga (ten times), Copa del Rey (seven times), Champions League (four times), FIFA Club World Cup (three times).

At the club level, he has won all possible titles, cups, and awards. His trophy cabinet and medal collection show his true class. I believe that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo play in a league of their own. These players constantly push each other and inspire them to do better each season.

For example, while Cristiano was playing for Real Madrid, he and Lionel Messi would break the fifty-goals per-season barrier consistently. In a few seasons, Lionel Messi even broke the sixty-goal per-season barrier.

There exists a healthy rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. It is a well-known fact that they have mutual respect for each other. Okay, let us talk about his early life and career now. Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina.

He belonged to a working middle-class family. His father was a manager at a steel factory and his mother worked in a magnet manufacturing unit. Lionel Messi started playing football at a very young age.

His elder brothers and cousins were passionate about football. As a child, Leo would often play football with his elder brothers and cousins. He showed signs of potential and this prompted his father to enroll him at the local club Grandoli.

By the time he was six years old, Lionel Messi joined Newell’s Old Boys Club. For the youth side of his club, young Lionel Messi scored more than five hundred goals! At the age of ten, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. The treatment was quite costly and Leo’s father couldn’t afford the entire cycle of growth hormone treatment.

His family was deeply worried by this condition. They asked for the help of football clubs interested in signing Leo. Through his family members residing in Catalonia, Lionel Messi’s father managed to arrange a trial with FC Barcelona for young Leo.

Gradually, he completed the growth hormone treatment and became a crucial part of FC Barcelona’s youth side. Even at Barcelona’s youth academy, he shone. He was well known for his exceptional strike rate. At a very young age, he started getting offers from foreign clubs. But Lionel Messi chose to stay at FC Barcelona.

He rapidly progressed through the club’s ranks. He made his first team debut when he was sixteen years old. From the 2005 season onward, he became a starting eleven player of the team. The rest, as they say, is history.

At FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi managed to impress his managers, coaches, fans, spectators as well as sports journalists. On the field, Lionel Messi is a versatile forward. In the early stages of his career, he was a right-winger. In this position, he forged a strong partnership with the Brazilian wizard Ronaldinho and Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o.

He was well known for his amazing runs, passes, trickery, and dribbles. He was a joy to watch. Well, it still is a joy to watch him play! In the early stages of his career, Leo played without any burden. He was already surrounded by greats and legends (like Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Ronaldinho, Eto’o etc). This allowed him to thrive on the field.

By 2006, he established himself as one of the best players in the world. He became the most talented young footballer in the world. Despite his slender frame and size, he managed to trouble defenders. His pace, trickery, and ability were too much for the defenders to handle.

I remember watching him play for the club in 2008. In that particular season, FC Barcelona won the treble. Lionel Messi played a crucial role in the match. Just one season and he made me his ardent fan! After getting an internet-enabled smartphone, I started watching his old videos and matching clips on the internet. This is how I came upon his solo goal against Getafe in the Copa del Rey semi-final. Man, that goal was absolutely breathtaking.

Since 2008, I have been closely following FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi. Since then, he has won various titles, trophies, and individual honors with the club. And with the arrival of Cristiano in Spain, Lionel Messi’s game improved! Yes, his fierce competitor motivated him to enhance his game! They competed for titles and set many goal-scoring records in the process. This, according to me, was the golden period of Spanish club football.

As of now, he is still playing for FC Barcelona. At the international level, he has represented Argentina in tournaments such as – The Olympics, World Cup, and Copa America. With the Argentina team, he won the 2021 edition of Copa America. Apart from that, he is also a World Cup runner-up (2014 edition) and Olympics Gold Medal winner (2008 Summer Olympics).

Finally, the unthinkable has happened. Recently, Lionel Messi announced that he will be leaving FC Barcelona. The announcement caused unrest among the fans of the club. Lionel Messi had been the best player for FC Barcelona for quite some time now. His departure will have a huge impact on the club. At the end of the day, football is not just about a single player. I hope that Barcelona will bounce back and get used to life without the great Messi.

FC Barcelona has a special place in Lionel Messi’s heart. He wanted to stay at the club. But the club’s financial constraints and some internal matters resulted in his departure. In his final speech at the club, Lionel couldn’t hide his emotions.

As of now, he has joined the French club PSG. Messi is one of the best players to play the modern game of football. He can easily walk into any top team in Europe! PSG has an ambitious project. Their determination is evident from the way they snapped up Lionel Messi.

Messi still has a lot to deliver on the field. And he will deliver for PSG now. With Messi in their team, the French club will have another attacking dimension on the field now. Now it is time for Messi to mesmerize the French league!

With time, Leo has made changes to his playing style. Growing old, he chose a creative attacking midfielder role. This allowed him to drop back, pick up the ball and dictate the flow of the game.

Lionel Messi has excelled for his country and club. On the field, he gives it his all. There’s no ‘in-between’ performance for him. He is a game-changer. Single-handedly, this guy can change the direction of a game! For example, Messi’s marauding run down the field can result in a goal or an assist. Lionel Messi is supremely talented and gifted. But mere talent alone won’t let one excel at the highest level for such a long period of time. This is where hard work and determination come in. Despite being so successful, Lionel Messi is humble. He is a family man and loves to lead a quiet and simple life.

I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.

I share articles related to courses, colleges, careers, exam tips and more here.

My Favorite Athlete: Lionel Messi

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Essay On Lionel Messi – The Greatest Football Player of All Time

Table of Contents

Essay About Lionel Messi – The Best Football Player

Introduction

Lionel Messi is a professional football player who has captured the hearts of fans around the world with his skill and sportsmanship on the field. In this essay, we will explore Messi’s career, his achievements, and his impact on the sport of football.

Early Life and Career

Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1987. He began playing football at a young age, demonstrating a natural talent for the sport. At the age of 13, he joined the youth team at FC Barcelona, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become a key player on the team.

Achievements (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); and Awards

Messi’s achievements on the field are nothing short of remarkable. He has won numerous awards and accolades throughout his career, including:

Seven Ballon d’Or awards – The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by France Football magazine. Messi has won the award seven times, more than any other player in history.

Four UEFA Champions League titles – Messi has helped lead FC Barcelona to four Champions League titles, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history.

Olympic gold medal – In 2008, Messi led Argentina to an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, further solidifying his status as a sports legend.

Impact on the Sport of Football

Messi’s impact on the sport of football cannot be overstated. He has inspired countless young players around the world, and his skill and sportsmanship have earned him a reputation as one of the greatest players of all time. He has also used his platform to advocate for social and political causes, including children’s health and education.

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, with his skill, athleticism, and sportsmanship earning him global recognition and admiration. His achievements on the field, including seven Ballon d’Or awards and four Champions League titles, have cemented his legacy as a sports legend. Beyond his success on the field, Messi has also used his platform to advocate for social and political causes, demonstrating a commitment to making a positive impact both on and off the field. As Messi continues to inspire future generations of football players around the world, his legacy will remain an enduring symbol of the power of sports to unite, inspire, and uplift.

Hello! Welcome to my Blog StudyParagraphs.co. My name is Angelina. I am a college professor. I love reading writing for kids students. This blog is full with valuable knowledge for all class students. Thank you for reading my articles.

Read A Short Poem On Football With Explanation

Lionel Messi's Life Story: The Smallest Boy With The Biggest Dreams

Lionel Messi is a well-known name even to those with no interest in sports. Even though he is shorter than most of his teammates, he rises above his opponents with adept skill and a legendary ability to score goals for his team.

Since his childhood, Lionel Messi, who was nicknamed "Leo", dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. But his ambition seemed blown out of proportion when considering his physical limitations and financial restrictions. No one could have predicted that after 17 years and 114 days of non-stop faith and dedication, the Argentinian footballer would be playing for his national team and FC Barcelona .

Inspired by his family and motivated by his passion , Lionel Messi pushed his boundaries to go from being the "smallest player on the pitch" to one of the greatest athletes of our time .

Posted by Goalcast

Training since childhood

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in the warm city of Rosario, Argentina. He was the third child in a tight-knit, hard-working family who fervently loved football.

Naturally, young Leo developed a passion for football himself. His two older brothers and cousins would constantly go out to play, and as soon as he was able, Leo tagged along. But the rest of the boys were much older than Leo, and were hesitant to let him join in.

His grandmother, who always went with him, insisted they allow him to play too. After watching Leo take his first football steps, she later convinced Leo's mother to buy his first pair of cleats.

At four years old, Leo joined the Grandoli local club, where he was coached by his father. His grandmother watched him almost every day as he dutifully trained to develop his skills. When he was eight, Leo joined the talented Newell Old Boys, another Rosario-based club that he had always looked up to.

Football soon became as important as the air he breathed. Messi practiced day in and day out, skipping outings with his friends to train at home before a game. The sport made him inexplicably happy and motivated and he began to dream of becoming a professional footballer.

Diagnosed with an inability to grow

When he was 10, his beloved grandmother passed away. The family was devastated, and her absence affected Messi beyond description. He didn't touch a football for weeks, but his father nudged him to carry on for the club. He returned, aiming to make his grandmother proud.

Over the following year, Leo played incessantly. But as he grew older, his height remained the same. His concerned parents eventually took their 11-year-old son to a doctor, who broke the news that the boy suffered from a growth hormone deficiency. This meant he was physically unable to grow unless he received special treatment, which would span three years and cost $1,500 per month.

Unable to cover such a costly treatment, Messi's father was left with no choice but to request financial support from the Newell's Old Boys club. The coach couldn't deny the child's exceptional talent, and accepted to pay for the treatment. They handed over a small sum to his embarrassed father, but that was all he ever received from them.

As his father continued to search for a way to cover the treatment, Leo was scouted by the Buenos Aires club River Plate , home of Pablo Aimar . Leo absolutely idolized the dubbed "football genius" and was ecstatic at the offer. However, the club was unwilling to cover Leo's expenses since Argentina was currently undergoing an economic collapse. He was undeniably crushed, but it wasn't long before another offer came in, this time from Spain.

Accepting the offer of a lifetime

Stories of a 13-year-old boy who had similar talents to legendary Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona had reached the ears of FC Barcelona 's technical director, Carles Rexach . Intrigued, he sent an offer to the Messi family, proposing a trial where he could see the boy's famed skills for himself. If he passed, the club would cover his medical bills, but on the condition that Messi moved to Spain.

While Leo didn't want to leave his life in Rosario behind, his dream of becoming a professional football player was too important. So, in September 2000, Leo and his family uprooted their lives and flew across the Atlantic to Barcelona.

The family stayed in a hotel while Leo presented himself to the prestigious FC Barcelona Youth team. He was given his uniform and went to the changing room, where he didn't speak a word to his new teammates. They all looked at him in disbelief of how small he was, but after he spent two minutes on the pitch, they were in disbelief of how good he was.

Coach Carles was so impressed that he offered Leo a contract on the only thing he had at hand -- a paper napkin. Leo signed it, opening the door to the life he had always dreamed of.

Rising through the ranks

At 13, Lionel Messi was scoring his way through the system in record time. While still very quiet and noticeably shorter than everyone else on the field, Leo stood out for his deft ability with the ball and unbeatable goal-scoring. He was even named Player of the Tournament.

Behind the scenes of his success on the field was an arduous routine. Every day he practiced and every night he injected growth hormones into his legs. This was Leo's life until he was 14 years old.

In barely a year and a half, he had already reached a level in the academy where he could join his first team. His treatment was finally over, and his body began to grow normally again, ultimately reaching 5' 7".

In 2003, at 16 years old, Messi made his professional debut representing Barcelona in a match versus Porto. His performance surprised his opponents and impressed the technical staff. Even after being kicked down repeatedly, he got up, dribbled past four players, and scored a goal.

His moves were unprecedented, partly due to not being based on strategy, but driven by instinct. Leo's talent won him a spot with Barcelona's senior squad, and he trained daily with Ronaldinho. The Brazilian player called the shy teen his "little brother," and openly recognized that Messi would surpass even him.

Breaking personal and global records

At 17, Messi made his league debut as the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition. His coach watched in awe as the teenager breezed past his opponents, controlling the ball with an almost surreal precision. Barcelona went on to win the UEFA Champions League for the first time in six years.

Leo now viewed his short stature as an advantage on the pitch, enabling a swiftness which soon earned him the nickname "The Atomic Flea" in Spanish media. Although he had to train harder than ever to be strong enough to fend off his older and taller opponents.

At 18, he signed his first contract as a senior team player for FC Barcelona. Shortly after, he made his first international appearance playing for Argentina in a match against Hungary. However, two minutes in, a player grabbed onto his shirt and Leo was sent off for using his arm to shake the player off. He sulked about the foul all the way to the dressing room, where his team later found him in tears.

As the seasons went on, the talented football player kept improving and breaking his own records. At 19, he had already established himself as a world-class football player. His talent as a top scorer led him to win dozens of triumphs for both FC Barcelona and his national team . At 22, Messi won the prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Although he was constantly plagued by serious injuries, by the time he was 24, Lionel Messi had broken the all-time world record for most goals scored in a calendar year. After every goal, he would point two fingers towards the sky, dedicating the triumph to his grandmother.

Resignation, return, and philanthropy

At 27 years old, Messi proudly played for his home country at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He continued to amaze the sports world with his spectacular footwork, creative assists, and eye-opening goals.

However, he was unable to pull Argentina through the final, losing 1-0 to Germany. Even though he earned a Golden Ball, the highest FIFA award for best player, he was utterly disappointed. Leo desperately wanted to bring the cup back to Argentina, as Maradona had done in 1986.

In June 2016, he played for Argentina at the Copa America Centenario 2016. After rigorous training and intense matches, the team made it to the final. The reputed Lionel Messi had his moment of truth as he stepped up to take the defining penalty against Chile. But he missed and Argentina was sent home to disappointed fans.

Crushed by the loss for him and his country, Leo announced his resignation from professional football. His decision was met with a widespread campaign titled "Don't go, Leo!" The Mayor of Buenos Aires even unveiled a statue of Lionel Messi in an effort to change his mind. Eventually, Messi decided he wasn't ready to hang up his shirt just yet and returned to his beloved sport.

Although he has yet to fulfill his goal of bringing home a world cup, Lionel Messi achieved his childhood dream with inspiring strength and dedication.

Dubbed as "Maradona's successor" by the legend himself, Leo continues to make his team and country proud in more ways than one. Off the pitch, he is an advocate for children's rights, funding medical care for the less fortunate and funding youth clubs, including his old football club, Newell's Old Boys .

The boy who was once too small to play with his cousins is now the winner of five Golden Balls, three European Golden Shoes, and is one of the top goal scorers in the world. But the modest Leo finds more joy in simply knowing that his grandmother would be proud.

You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it. - Lionel Messi

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Police Officer Is Now Family After Saving Three-Month-Old

Being a new parent is terrifying because you’re always expecting the worst. But when the worst actually happens, and your baby stops breathing, you hope that a stranger like this police officer will be there to save the day.

A Harrowing Incident

Officer Mike Harton sits with Tooka, he girl whose life he once saved

CBS News/YouTube

A normal day at the movies turned into a new mother ’s worst nightmare five years ago when her three-month-old daughter Tooka stopped breathing. Nikki Huckaby ran out of the theater and screamed for help.

“I was standing there, and that’s when she came running toward this way,” Officer Mike Harton recalled to CNN . “[The baby] curled back, trying to take a breath, and then she went completely limp on me.”

It was then that Harton’s training kicked in and he started performing chest compressions and back blows, trying to get Tooka breathing again.

“All I was thinking, is like, she cannot die in this movie theater,” Huckaby recalled.

“All I could think in my head was, 'Not on my watch, not on my watch,'” Harton added.

Saving a Life

After 30 long seconds, Tooka finally released a small cry. It was music to the mom and officer’s ears. “That cry was the best cry ever,” Harton said.

“I literally watched a miracle happen before my eyes,” Huckaby said.

From that moment on, Harton began calling Tooka “Little Angel” and the officer became a part of the family ’s life. He was even asked to be Tooka’s godfather. Today, he’s there for all of the five-year-old’s big life events: birthdays, holidays, and the first day of school. Tooka even wants to be a police officer when she grows up.

“That day, an angel came down,” Harton continued. “She did more for me than I did for her. My life changed that day. Our family got extended, and it’s amazing.”

Positive Relationships

In the interview, Huckaby explained that she and Harton wanted to share their story to show that positive police relationships can — and should — exist.

“A lot of people don’t get a chance to have that positive relationship with police officers. I hope this story is an example of how you can come together from different worlds and really be family because we are humans first,” Huckaby said.

It’s a nice reminder that the police in our communities do more than we think and are there to serve first and foremost. By highlighting more of these examples, we can deepen our relationships with police officers who show up for those in need, lend a helping hand, and continue to show up long after their official duties are done.

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Mom Defends 'No Contact' with Son Internet Calls Gaslighting

In the age of social media, where opinions fly faster than ever, one video sparked a wildfire of controversy, shedding light on a topic often brushed under the rug: parent-child relationships.

Brianna Knight is the millennial "doula in training" who took to her platform to express her bewilderment at parents who seem unfazed by their adult children's decision to cut ties — a phenomenon known as "no contact."

Little did she know, her words would ignite a heated response from a mother named Julie, whose reaction left many questioning the dynamics of familial bonds.

Angry Mother Responds To Viral Video Encouraging Better Parenting

This 3-part video saga begins with a simple video posted by a millennial woman, whose candid commentary on parent-child relationships struck a nerve in the online community. In her impassioned monologue, she questions the perplexing phenomenon of parents seemingly unfazed by their adult children's decision to cut ties — a practice commonly referred to as "no contact."

"I just don't get it," she muses to her followers. "How can a parent act like it's no big deal when their own child decides to go no contact? It's like they're completely unbothered by it."

But she didn't know her words would provoke a response that would reverberate across social media platforms. Enter Julie, a middle-aged mother with fiery red hair and a demeanor to match. In her luxurious kitchen, adorned with the trappings of affluence, she confronts the millennial woman's critique with a venomous retort.

She Said Putting Her Son First Made Her Want To "Kill Herself"

"Oh sweetie, I probably shouldn't address this because I'm too emotional about it," Julie begins, her tone dripping with disdain. "But I will say this: Since my son has cut me off and gone no contact, I can do two things. I can remove myself from this planet or I can just totally shut my emotions and all my feelings down." - Julie (@goosegrese56 /TikTok)

The stark contrast between the millennial's earnest inquiry and Julie's defensive outburst sets the stage for a showdown of generational perspectives on parent-child relationships. As the video exchange unfolds, viewers are left grappling with uncomfortable truths about emotional responsibility and the enduring impact of familial dynamics.

Amidst the uproar caused by Julie's callous remarks, a voice of reason emerged. Brianna (@briknightt), a postpartum advocate and "doula in training", took to TikTok to dismantle Julie's harmful narrative.

With grace and clarity, she addressed the complexities of parent-child estrangement, drawing from her own experience with a narcissistic and abusive father. Brianna's video served as the perfect validation for those navigating similar struggles, reminding them that they are not alone in their journey to reclaim their emotional well-being.

Watch Brianna Knight's Video:

@briknighttt @Julie It’s giving “I guess I’m just the worst mother ever” instead of actually listening to your child 😵💫 #respectfulparenting #gentleparenting #cyclebreaker #cyclebreaking #millennialmom #equalparenting #childhoodtrauma #childhoodabuse #domesticabuseawareness #domesticviolenceawareness #dvsurvivor #traumatok #healingjourney #momswhoheal #millennialmom #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound - briknighttt

Brianna's Message Reminds Those Struggling They Aren't "Crazy"

In her video response, Brianna delves into the complexities of parent-child relationships with wisdom and compassion. She highlights the emotional toll of estrangement and offers invaluable insights for those grappling with similar struggles.

"It takes a lot for a child to want to go no contact with the person that raised them. It takes a lot of trying. It takes a lot of years. It takes a lot of pain." - Brianna Knight

Her words resonate deeply with viewers, providing solace and validation for those navigating the tumultuous terrain of familial estrangement. Brianna's message serves as a beacon of hope, reminding individuals that they are worthy of love and understanding, even in the face of familial discord.

A Lesson For Parents Unwilling To Embrace Healing and Growth

As the dust settles on this digital battleground, it's imperative to reflect on the lessons learned. Julie's outburst may have sparked outrage, but it also sparked a much-needed conversation about the complexities of parent-child dynamics in the modern age.

In a world where emotional vulnerability is often perceived as weakness, Brianna's courage to speak her truth shines brightly. Her resilience and empathy serve as a testament to the power of authenticity and compassion in fostering meaningful connections.

As we navigate the intricate web of familial relationships, let us heed Brianna's wisdom and embrace the journey of healing and growth. For it is through introspection and empathy that we pave the path towards reconciliation and understanding — bridging the divide between generations and forging bonds rooted in love and acceptance.

Since going viral for all the wrong reasons, Julie has deleted her TikTok account (@goosegrease56).

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Lionel Messi

Reading Comprehension: Lionel Messi

Develop your reading skills. Read the following text about Lionel Messi and do the comprehension task.

Lionel Andrés Messi

Lionel Andrés Messi, born on June 24, 1987, is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Barcelona and the Argentine national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of his generation and is frequently considered the world’s best contemporary player. His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, and Messi has received Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, winning both by the age of 22. Diego Maradona once declared that Messi was his “successor.”

Messi’s talent was recognized early by his father, and he quickly caught the attention of Barcelona when he began playing with the local team. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, a medical condition that requires costly treatment. In 2000, he left Newell’s Old Boys’ youth team in Rosario and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his condition. Making his debut in the 2004-05 season, Messi broke the La Liga record for the youngest footballer to play a league game and also the youngest to score a league goal. Major honors soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi’s debut season and achieved a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season came in 2006-07, becoming a first-team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico, and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Perhaps his most successful season was the 2008-09 season, in which Messi scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign.

Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina’s senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year. In 2008, he won his first international honor, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team.

As the squad’s captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, the 2015 Copa América, winning the Golden Ball, and the 2016 Copa América. After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision and led his country to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a third-place finish at the 2019 Copa América, and victory in the 2021 Copa América, while winning the Golden Ball and Golden Boot for the latter. At the peak of his achievements, he led his team to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he won a record second Golden Ball, scored seven goals including two in the final, and broke the record for most games played at the World Cup (26), later receiving his record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or in 2023.

Source: Wikipedia

Comprehension:

Lionel Messi's talent was discovered a. in Spain b. in Argentina
Messi's health condition was critical a. before he moved to Spain b. after he moved to Spain
He was offered a treatment for his disease by a. Newell's Old Boys b. Barcelona
Messi's best season with Barcelona was a. 2004-2005 b. 2005-2006 c. 2008–2009

Football (soccer) – Reading
The 2010 World Cup (South Africa)
The official 2010 World Cup song
Previous World Cup tournaments
Vocabulary lesson on football (soccer)
Cristiano Ronaldo

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Messi's Edge Over Ronaldo in Football Legacy

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Lionel Messi The God of Soccer

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Hot Stories

A Harrowing Incident

Saving a Life

Positive Relationships

Couple Buy First Home Together - Discover a "Surprise" Left Behind By the Previous Owners

Angry Mother Responds To Viral Video Encouraging Better Parenting

She Said Putting Her Son First Made Her Want To "Kill Herself"

Watch Brianna Knight's Video:

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Lionel Messi

Reading Comprehension: Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés Messi

Comprehension:

Messi's Edge Over Ronaldo in Football Legacy

Unmatched Skills and Technique

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