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We know who Lionel Messi is but we don’t know how he becomes the greatest football player. We will take a look at Messi’s struggle and the difficulties that he faced at the start of his football career in this post.

Short Biography

Lionel Messi had so much struggle in his childhood to play football. He was born in Argentina but the Argentine club River Plate rejected the possibility to sign Messi. The reason behind was so terrible and shameful. Messi had growth hormone deficiency and River Plate did not want to pay for the treatment which was important for Messi as a kid.

River Plate Youth Academy thought that they have already so many great players. Former River Plate coach Eduardo Abrahamian had seen Lionel Messi while playing so they wanted to take him in the team but the Board did not take Eduardo seriously.

Messi and his family moved to Barcelona and got a contract with Barcelona on a napkin in the club cafeteria. This is how Messi’s football journey begins and becomes the greatest player for FC Barcelona.

Many people want to read full information and biography about Lionel Messi. You will know Messi’s nicknames, birthplace, height, weight, body measurements, school, girlfriends, international debut, controversies, favorite things, salary, career records, interesting facts, properties, and net worth here.

You will get all this information in the table below.

Personal Information and Education

Physical Information

Family Information

Professional Information

Coaches/Managers

Club

Pere Gratacos, Barcelona B (2003-04)

Frank Rijkaard, FC Barcelona (2004-08)

Pep Guardiola, FC Barcelona (2008-12)

Tito Vilanova, FC Barcelona (2012-13)

Jordi Roura, FC Barcelona (2013)

Gerardo Martino, FC Barcelona (2013-14)

Luis Enrique, FC Barcelona (2014-17)

Ernesto Valverde, FC Barcelona (2017-20)

Quique Setien, FC Barcelona (2020)

Ronald Koeman, FC Barcelona (2020-21)

Mauricio Pochettino, PSG (2021-22)

Christophe Galtier, PSG (2022-23)

Gerardo Martino, Inter Miami (2023-current)

International

Jose Pekerman (2005-06)

Alfio Basile (2006-08)

Diego Maradona (2008-10)

Sergio Batista (2010-11)

Alejandro Sabella (2011-14)

Gerardo Martino (2014-16)

Edgardo Bauza (2016-17)

Jorge Sampaoli (2017-18)

Career records and achievements

European records

• Most European Golden Shoe Awards (6)

• Fastest player to score 100 goals in UEFA Champions League (123 matches)

• Youngest player to score 400+ goals for a single European club

• Most league goals scored in a season (50)

• Most hat-tricks in UEFA Champions League for a single club (8)

• The first player to score 5 goals in a single UEFA Champions League game

Spanish Records

• Most hat-tricks in La Liga (36)

• The first player who scored 40+ goals in 3 La Liga seasons

• All-time highest goalscorer in La Liga (447)

• Most assists in La Liga (192)

• Youngest player to score 200 La Liga goals (25)

• Most goals scored in La Liga in a calendar year

World Records

• Most Ballon d’Or awards (7)

• Most FIFA Club World Cup Golden Balls (2)

• The only player in history to win the Ballon d’Or, FIFA World Player, Pichichi Trophy, and Golden Boot in the same season.

• Most Golden Shoe awards (6)

Guinness World Records

• Most appearances on a video game cover by a football player

• Youngest player to score 50 goals in UEFA Champions League

• Highest annual earnings for a footballer

• Most appearances in La Liga by a foreign player

• Most goals scored by a substitute in a Copa America

• Most goals in a UEFA Champions League match

First things

Awards

• 6 times European Golden Shoe winner (2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19)

• Pichichi trophy (8 times) and 5 consecutive in this (2017-2021)

• Ballan d’Or Dream Team (2020)

• FIFA World Player of the Year (2009)

• The Best FIFA Men’s Player (2019)

• Ballan d’Or (18 nominations and 7 times winner)

• UEFA Men’s Player of the Year (2011, 2015)

• World Soccer Player of the Year (3 times)

• Golden Boy (2005)

• FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (2014)

• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (2009)

• Argentine Footballer of the Year (14 times)

• Bravo Award (2007)

• Best International men’s soccer player ESPY award (2019)

• FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball (2009, 2011)

• La Liga award for Best Forward (7 times)

• FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Shoe (2005)

• Copa America Award for Best Young Player (2007)

Injuries

• Torn muscle bundle

• Metatarsal fracture

• Strain

• Stretched ligament

• Medial Collateral Ligament Knee Injury

• Kidney stone surgery

• Hamstring injury

• Sprained Ankle

• Influenza

• Back Bruise

• Forearm fracture

• Ankle injury

• Bone Bruise

• Coronavirus

• Flu

• Calf problems

Controversies

Red card in debut match

Everyone was surprised when Lionel Messi got a red card in his first match. He walked in as a substitute and after just 2 minutes, he hit an elbow to the opponent’s face while trying to dribble the ball. The referee gave him a red card and Messi’s debut match became a nightmare for him.

Telling Tite to shut up

Brazil vs Argentina friendly match was going on in 2019. Messi scored a winner and Argentina got the lead but Messi exchanged some words with Brazilian manager Tite.

Messi told him to shut up by putting his finger on the lips. Tite complained that Messi should get a yellow card but no action happened.

Spitting on Duda in a La Liga match

No one could remember this but Argentine manager Guardiola was very disappointed in Messi. Malaga players targeted Messi strategically. He clashed with Malaga winger Duda many times in this match but Messi lost his temper and spat in Duda’s direction.

Accuse CONMEBOL of corruption after red card

Messi got involved in a brawl with Chile skipper Gary Medal in Copa America. This happened after the ball went behind for a goal kick. This brawl got to the top point and the referee gave a red card to both players. Messi was so furious that he did not attend the medal presentation. He said after that he did not want to be part of this corruption.

Cars

Lexus Mini Cooper – $19.73k

Lexus RX 450h – $46.8k

Audi Q7 – $54.59k

Audi A7 – $69.2k

Range Rover Sport – $69.5k

Cadillac Escalade – $75.19k

Audi RS6 – $108k

Ferrari F430 Spider – $164.49k

Range Rover Vogue – Around $200k

Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale – $242.1k

Mercedes SLS AMG – $642.49k

Pagani Zonda Tricolore – $2 million

Properties

• Mansion in Rosario – around $4 million

• Mansion in Barcelona – $7 million

• 9th floor of Luxury Condominium in South Florida – $7.3 million

• Porsche design tower in Miami – $9 million

• The Gulfstream V Private Jet (on lease) – Worth $15 million

Net worth

Favorite things

Social Media

Facts

• Lionel Messi’s father was the steelworker and coach of the local youth football team.

• Messi had growth hormone deficiency which was stopping his growth at the age of 11 but his parents did not have enough money for treatment. The treatment cost was $900 per month. His father’s medical insurance could only cover two years of treatment.

• Messi’s family arranged a trial with Barcelona through their relatives. Messi impressed the first team director and they immediately ready to sign him. He did not have paper so they wrote the first contact of Messi on a paper napkin.

• Messi was a foreign player so he could not participate in the official youth team in his first year.

• During the full season of 2002, Messi was the top goalscorer. He scored 36 goals in 30 matches.

• Royal Spanish Football Federation offered Messi to join the Spanish football team but Messi rejected this offer.

• Do you know who assisted in Messi’s first goal? He is the great Ronaldinho who assisted Messi’s first senior goal.

• Messi signed his first contract as a senior team player on his 18th birthday. He had a buyout clause of 150 million Euros. The contract was extended until 2010.

• Looking at his impressive performance, the Juventus coach wanted to take Messi into his team on loan. Inter Milan also wanted to buy him. They were ready to pay his 150 million Euros release clause and also triple his salary but Messi decided to stay in the Barcelona team.

• After Ronaldinho’s departure, Messi took the iconic 10 no. Jersey.

FAQs