Lionel Andrés Messi, also known as Leo Messi, plays for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentine national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Here is his story.
Messi was born on 24th June 1987 in Rosario, Santa Fe, the third of the four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager. and Celia Cuccittini, who worked in the magnet manufacturing workshop. On his father’s side, he’s Italian and Spanish. And on his mother’s side, he has primarily Italian ancestry.
Young Messi (photo courtesy YouTube
Messi grew up in a tight-knit, football family and developed a passion for the sport at an early age.
At the age of four, he joined the club Grandoli and was coached by his father. His earliest influence as a player came from his maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and matches. He was greatly affected by her death, shortly before his eleventh birthday. Since then, he has celebrated his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky in tribute to his grandmother.
Messi then, at the age of six, joined the Rosario club. Over six years, he played for Newell’s, scoring almost 500 goals as a member of “The machine of ’87,” the near-unbeatable youth side named for the year of their birth, and regularly entertained crowds by performing ball tricks at half-time of the first team’s home games.
However, his future as a professional player was threatened when, aged 10, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. As his father’s health insurance covered only two years of growth hormone treatment, which cost at least $1,000 per month, Newell’s agreed to contribute, but later reneged on their promise. He was scouted by Buenos Aires club River Plate, whose playmaker, Pablo Aimar, he idolised, but they declined to pay for his treatment.
As the Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, they sought to arrange a trial with Barcelona in September 2000. First-team director Charly Rexach immediately wanted to sign him, but the board of directors hesitated; at the time, it was highly unusual for European clubs to sign foreign players so young. On 14 December, an ultimatum was issued for Barcelona to prove its commitment, and Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered a contract on a paper napkin.
Messi in 2001 (photo courtesy X)
In February 2001, the family relocated to Barcelona, where they moved into an apartment near the club’s stadium, Camp Nou. During his first year in Spain, Messi rarely played with the Infantiles due to a transfer conflict with Newell’s; as a foreigner, he could only be fielded in friendlies and the Catalan league. Without football, he struggled to integrate into the team; already reserved by nature, he was so quiet that his teammates initially believed he was mute.
At home, he suffered from homesickness after his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and little sister, María Sol, while he stayed in Barcelona with his father. After a year at Barcelona’s youth academy, La Masia, Messi was finally enrolled in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in February 2002. Now playing in all competitions, he befriended his teammates, including Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué. After completing his growth hormone treatment at age 14, Messi became an integral part of the “Baby Dream Team,” Barcelona’s greatest-ever youth side.
During his first full season (2002–03), he was the top scorer with 36 goals in 30 games for the Cadetes A, who won an unprecedented treble of the league and both the Spanish and Catalan cups. The Copa Catalunya final, a 4–1 victory over Espanyol, became known in club lore as the partido de la máscara, the final of the mask.
A week after suffering a broken cheekbone during a league match, Messi was allowed to start the game on the condition that he wear a plastic protector; soon hindered by the mask, he took it off and scored two goals in 10 minutes before his substitution. At the close of the season, he received an offer to join Arsenal, his first from a foreign club, but while Fàbregas and Piqué soon left for England, he chose to remain in Barcelona.
During the 2003–04 season, his fourth with Barcelona, Messi rapidly progressed through the club’s ranks, debuting for a record five youth teams in a single campaign. After being named player of the tournament in four international pre-season competitions with the Juveniles B, he played only one official match with the team before being promoted to the Juveniles A, where he scored 18 goals in 11 league games. Messi was then one of several youth players called up to strengthen a depleted first team during the international break.
Messi is widely considered to be one of the best football players in the world. He has achieved significant success at the club and international levels over the years and has been credited with setting new precedents in the game. Leadership is not about being powerful or influential; it’s about leading by example. Messi has consistently displayed exemplary behaviours and skills even when he wasn’t in charge, setting a positive example for his teammates to follow.
Messi possesses unbridled passion and dedication to his sport. His goals are not just about achieving personal glory — they’re about giving everything he’s got to help his team win. As a leader, this uncompromising mindset is essential — it inspires others to give their all as well and makes them fiercely competitive for the club’s honours. Messi is comfortable with change.
When things go wrong, he doesn’t hesitate to take action to rectify the situation as quickly as possible — this shows absolute confidence in his ability to get things done, regardless of the circumstances. Leaders who are uncomfortable with taking charge will often procrastinate or avoid making changes altogether — this isn’t leadership, it’s stagnation!
Being a great leader isn’t about having all the answers (or even having any at all); it’s about pulling your teammates along for the ride while helping them reach their full potential. By exhibiting these seven key leadership qualities, Lionel Messi has undeniably proved himself one of the greatest footballers ever — and anyone hoping to emulate his achievements should definitely study up on what makes him so successful!
At the FIFA World Cup, Leo Messi played for Argentina in five tournaments: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022. In his debut at the 2006 World Cup, he scored one goal; none in 2010. But in 2014, he got his form back in the national Jersey and scored four goals in the tournament. In 2014, Argentina played so well that they reached the final against Germany. But unfortunately, Argentina and Messi couldn’t win the trophy. Still, Messi won the player of the tournament.
Gold! (photo courtesy San Diego Union-Tribune)
Messi had won everything in the world except a FIFA trophy. So in frustration, he didn’t play international football again until 2018. But things didn’t go well.
Argentina struggled to qualify for the World Cup. At that point, Messi figured he was done with the international game. But Mauricio Macri, the Argentine president at the time, visited Messi’s residence and convinced him to return to the national team.
It worked. Messi returned and took the team to the semi-finals. But the team lost to Croatia 3-0, and his quest was denied.
Fast forward to the 2022 games. Fans wanted Messi to get gold, and so did many rival players, in a script that seemed written by God. In the end, France fell, and Argentina was finally in the spotlight alone. Messi scored 25 goals during the 2022 games.
As a football commentator, Peter F. Drury commented after he won the World Cup:
Scaloni will be fated,
Messi will be sainted.
Lionel Messi has conquered his final pick.
Lionel Messi has shaken hands with paradise.
The little boy from Rosario, Santa Fe, has just pitched up in heaven.
He climbs into a galaxy of his own,
He has his crowning moments.
This will leave you with goosebumps, I hope. LM10 for life.
