Lionel Messi By Amrit

                                        Lionel Messi  

Lionel Messi

Personal information
Full name	Lionel Andrés Messi[1]
Date of birth	24 June 1987 (age 24)[2]
Place of birth	Rosario[2], Santa Fe, Argentina
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Playing position	Striker / Winger
Club information
Current club	Barcelona
Number	10
Youth career
1995–2000	Newell's Old Boys
2000–2004	Barcelona

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Early Life

     Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe. His parents names are Jorge Horacio Messi and Angelo Messi. Messi's dad worked as a factory steel worker and a part time cleaner. He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named María Sol. When Messi was five he started to play football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge. In the year 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario.  Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida, Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial. Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin.Barcelona offered to pay for Messi's medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain. Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in the clubs youth academy. Soon Messi got moved to Barcelona and did an amazing job. He was breaking many records and tons of goals and was getting noticed by International teams.

International Career 

     In June 2004, he debuted for Argentina, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay. In 2005 he was part of a team that won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. There, he won the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe, scoring in the last four of Argentina's matches and netting a total of six for the tournament. He made his full international debut on 17 August 2005 against Hungary at the age of 18. He was substituted on during the 63rd minute, but was sent off on the 65th minute because the referee, Markus Merk, found he had headbutted defender Vilmos Vanczák, who was tugging Messi's shirt. The decision was contentious and Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated. Messi returned to the team on 3 September in Argentina's 1–0 World Cup qualifier away defeat to Paraguay. Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-debut. The first one was a bit short." He then started his first game for Argentina against Peru; after the match Pekerman described Messi as "a jewel". On 28 March 2009, in a World Cup Qualifier against Venezuela, Messi wore the number 10 jersey for the first time with Argentina. This match was the first official match for Diego Maradona as the Argentina manager. Argentina won the match 4–0 with Messi opening the scoring. On 17 November 2010, Messi scored a last-minute goal against South American rivals Brazil after an individual effort to help his team to a 1–0 win in the friendly match, which was held in Doha. This was the first time that he had scored against Brazil at senior level. Messi scored another last-minute goal on 9 February 2011 against Portugal in a penalty kick which he give his side a 2–1 victory in the friendly match, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland.
My Opinion
   As you can see Messi has been through a lot to become the person he is. His family was kind of poor and he started playing when he was five. Now he does something amazing in almost every game. Messi was so good his contract was on a napkin. Messi, even had growth hormone deficiency, which is disease that prevents you from growing at a normal pace. Even though he had this life affecting disease he now plays magnificent football. Now people say Messi is the new Maradona. Next time you see Messi anywhere, on T.V., or even in person think of what he has been through. My favorite player is Messi; Who is your favorite player?    
I got most of this information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi .