We believe we know everything about the one who will perhaps one day be named the best player in history. But by pushing the limits, the Pulga has sown in its path of aliens some well-kept secrets, facts gone unnoticed but not without importance.
Messi almost didn’t go to Newell’s Old Boys
If he has never hidden that he was looking at River Plate with a particular eye, it was in the region of Rosario, his hometown, at Grandoli FC where his father and brothers played, that he found himself. passionate about football. But before leaving at the age of 7 for Newell’s Old Boys, he first tried his luck at Central Cordoba.
He even played a few games there before finally joining the big club in the city of Rosario in 1994. He will shine there in particular at the half-time of certain matches of the first team by carrying out series of spectacular juggles under the gaze of an audience conquered by the little guy.
Barcelona paid him his treatment
In 1996, his diagnosed hormonal deficit put his growth at risk. We even mention the possibility that it will never exceed 1.50m. At that moment, it is football that will save him. While his parents are fighting, in the midst of the economic crisis, to find a treatment that allows him to finally gain several centimeters, the salvation comes from FC Barcelona who agrees to take charge of the entire treatment.
Messi is Olympic champion
In 2008, he was part of the Argentine Olympic football team present in Beijing. Surrounded by big names like Sergio Agüero, Angel Di Maria, Juan Roman Riquelme or Ezequiel Lavezzi, he won the gold medal by beating Nigeria in the final (1-0). For a long time, this was his only claim to fame with the Albiceleste.
He faced Mauricio Pochettino
Today, fate brought them together at PSG as a player and coach, but Mauricio Pochettino and Lionel Messi have met regularly in the past and especially in Spain. For his first game with Barcelona, Mauricio Pochettino was Espanyol captain in a 1-0 loss in a Catalan derby that saw young Messi play his first minutes. It was October 16, 2004.
Messi meets his mate thanks to a teammate
More than titles or glory, football has really brought him a lot, for his health but also for his love life. Indeed, it was at Newell’s Old Boys that he met the one who would become his future wife, Antonella Roccuzzo, cousin of his partner, Lucas Scaglia. We are then in 1994. The friendship story will turn into a love story and the two lovebirds will get married 23 years later!
The 30 remains his first career issue
Before putting on the n ° 10 behind his back, it was the n ° 30 that accompanied his early career. He had indeed opted for this number in tribute to two of his idols and Barça teammates, Ronaldinho, who wore the 10, and Deco, who had inherited the 20. Several years later, he therefore found the 30 with PSG.
Today, he has fun but Ludovic Giuly was one of the privileged witnesses of the outbreak of Lionel Messi between the Masia and the Camp Nou. The Frenchman was quickly put in competition with an Argentinian nugget that was starting out. Forced to leave Barça for Roma to increase his playing time, Giuly returned to France through the PSG door… like Messi 13 years later.
Messi has already scored over 1,000 career goals
It is a mythical bar that few footballers can claim to have crossed. In 2018, it is already accepted that Lionel Messi has scored more than 1000 goals since he started playing football. From his junior years until today, he has reached exactly 1,106 goals, notably thanks to his 672 Barcelona goals and 79 national goals.
He has already scored at the Vélodrome
Parisian supporters can rejoice. Lionel Messi has also already experienced success at the Stade Vélodrome. In February 2009, he participated in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over France. At the time, Diego Maradona was his coach for his first match against the Blues, who will take their revenge, 9 years later, at the World Cup in Russia and the 4-3 victory in the round of 16.
Messi works for others
If he makes people happy thanks to his performances on the field, Lionel Messi is also just as turned towards the others in the life. In 2007, with his family, he decided to create the Fundacion Leo Messi to promote education and help the most vulnerable children. Since 2010, he has also been an ambassador for UNICEF but also to the Red Cross. He also did various operations to help the vineyards in his native region.
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