Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi, full name Lionel Andrés Messi, usually known as Leo Messi, born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, is an Argentine-born football (soccer) player who has been voted FIFA World Player of the Year six times (2009–12, 2015, and 2019).
Messi began playing football in his childhood and joined Newell's Old Boys' junior squad in 1995. (a Rosario-based top-division football club). Messi's incredible abilities drew the Interest of top teams on both sides of the Atlantic.
Messi and his family moved to Barcelona when he was 13 years old, and he started playing for FC Barcelona's under-14 squad. He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the junior squad and swiftly advanced through the higher-level levels, making his official debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly match at the age of 16.
In the 2004–05 season, Messi, at 17 years old, became the youngest official player and goal scorer in La Liga (Spain's top football league). He was powerful, well-balanced, and adaptable on the field despite being just 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 meters) tall and weighing 148 pounds (67 kg). Messi was a natural left-footer who was fast and accurate in his ball-handling and could easily weave his way past crowded defenders.
In 2005, he was given Spanish citizenship, an honor that elicited conflicting reactions among Barcelona's staunchly Catalan followers.
The next year, Messi and Barcelona won the Champions League (European club championship). Messi's game improved steadily over the years, and by 2008, he had established himself as one of the world's most dominating players, standing second behind Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo under the FIFA World Player of the Year poll.
In early 2009, Messi helped FC Barcelona achieve the club's first "treble" (winning three major European club trophies in one season): the squad won La Liga, the Copa del Rey (Spain's primary domestic cup), and the Champions League.
During that season, he won the FIFA World Player of the Year award by a record margin against Ronaldo by scoring 38 goals in 51 games. During the 2009–10 season, Messi scored 34 goals in domestic games as Barcelona won La Liga for the 2nd consecutive season. As Europe's top scorer, he won the Golden Shoe award and was crowned global player of the year in 2010 (the honor was renamed the FIFA Ballon d'Or that year).
Messi was one of the most well-known athletes in the world off the field. He was an extraordinarily successful product pitchman, particularly for the sportswear firm Adidas, in addition to earning a football wage, with Ronaldo's, one of the two biggest players' earnings in all professional sports.
Messi and his father (who was in control of his son's money) were charged for tax fraud in 2013 after allegedly using offshore shell companies to avoid paying €4.2 million in Spanish taxes on sponsorship revenues received.
Despite paying the Spanish government €5 million, the couple was nevertheless ordered to face trial in 2016 on the accusations.
Messi and his father were both handed suspended 21-month jail terms in July of that year, with fines of €2 million and €1.5 million, respectively (first-time offenders in Spain are granted suspended sentences if the length is less than two years).
Let's learn about Lionel Messi's view to see the life and get inspired by them:
1. "Everything that’s happened to me in my career has been special, even the tough times because they leave marks on you that shape your life." – Lionel Messi
2. "A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of the sheep." – Lionel Messi
3. "There is no doubt. It is certain that I will be 100 percent." – Lionel Messi
4. "You can overcome anything, if and only if you love something enough." – Lionel Messi
5. "Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win." – Lionel Messi
6. "You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it." – Lionel Messi
7. "Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win." – Lionel Messi
8. "What I do is play soccer, which is what I like." – Lionel Messi
9. "Sometimes you have to accept you can’t win all the time." – Lionel Messi
10. "What I do is play soccer, which is what I like."– Lionel Messi
11. "I have many years to get better and better, and that has to be my ambition. The day you think there is no improvements to be made is a sad one for any player." – Lionel Messi
12. "When the year starts the objective is to win it all with the team, personal records are secondary." – Lionel Messi
13. "I start early and I stay late, day after day, year after year, it took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success." – Lionel Messi
14. "It takes sacrifice as well as talent." – Lionel Messi
15. "I’m never satisfied. I always push my limits and I always try to get better every day." – Lionel Messi
16. "Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn’t thrill me or make me play better because there are benefits to being wealthy. I am just happy with the ball at my feet." – Lionel Messi
17. "You cannot allow your desire to be a winner to be diminished by achieving success before and I believe there is room for improvement in every sportsman." – Lionel Messi
18. "Being a bit famous now gives me the opportunity to help people who really need it." – Lionel Messi
19. "Motivation is not something I struggle with. I love playing football, I love being in training." – Lionel Messi
20. I am more worried about being a good person than being the best footballer in the world." – Lionel Messi
21. "If I wasn’t paid to be a professional footballer, I would willingly play for nothing." – Lionel Messi
