Early life
Messi was born on 24 June 1987 at the
Hospital Italiano Garibaldi in
Rosario,
Santa Fe, to parents Jorge Horacio Messi (born 1958), a factory worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner.
[14][15][16][17] His paternal family originates from the Italian city of
Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883.
[18][19] He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named María Sol.
[20] At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge.
[21] In 1995, Messi switched to
Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario.
[21] At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a
growth hormone deficiency.
[22] Primera División club
River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for treatment for his condition as it cost $900 a month.
[17] 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.
[17] Barcelona signed him after watching him play,
[23] offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to
Spain.
[21] His family moved to Europe and he started in the club's youth teams.
[23] He has two cousins also involved in football;
Maxi and
Emanuel Biancucchi.
[24][25]
Club career
Barcelona
Messi made his official debut for the first-team on 16 November 2003 aged 16 years and 145 days, in a
friendly match against
F.C. Porto.
[27] Less than a year later,
Frank Rijkaard let him make his league debut against
Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga. This record broken by Barca team mate
Bojan Krkić in September 2007. When he scored his first senior goal for the club against
Albacete on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, ten months and seven days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona
[28] until it was again broken by Bojan Krkić in 2007, scoring from a Messi assist.
[29] Messi said about his ex-coach
Frank Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the fact that he launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only sixteen or seventeen."
[30]
2005–06 season
The Maradona and Pele polemics will end.
On 16 September, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract; this time it was improved to pay him as a first team member and extended until June 2014.
[21] Messi obtained Spanish
citizenship on 26 September 2005
[32] and was finally able to make his debut in
the season's
Spanish First Division. Messi's first home outing in the
Champions League came on 27 September against Italian club
Udinese. Fans at Barcelona's stadium, the
Camp Nou, gave Messi a standing ovation upon his
substitution, as his composure on the ball and passing combinations with
Ronaldinho had paid dividends for Barcelona.
[33]
Messi netted six goals in 17 league appearances, and scored one Champions League goal in six. His season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, however, when he suffered a muscle tear in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against
Chelsea.
[34] Rijkaard's Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.
[35][36]
2006–07 season
Messi in a match against
Rangers in 2007
In the
2006–07 season, Messi established himself as a regular first team player, scoring 14 times in 26 matches.
[37] On 12 November, in the game against
Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken
metatarsal, ruling him out for three months.
[38][39] Messi recuperated from his injury in Argentina, and his return to action came against
Racing Santander on 11 February,
[40] where he came on as a second-half substitute. On 11 March,
El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a
hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3–3 draw,
equalising three times, with the final equaliser coming in
injury time.
[41] In doing so he became the first player since
Iván Zamorano (for
Real Madrid in the 1994–95 season) to score a hat-trick in
El Clásico.
[42] Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. Towards the end of the season he began finding the net more often; 11 of his 14 league goals for the season came from the last 13 games.
[43]
Messi shortly before scoring a goal against Getafe
Messi also proved the "new Maradona" tag was not all hype, by nearly replicating Maradona's most famous goals in the space of the single season.
[44] On 18 April 2007, he scored two goals during a
Copa del Rey semi-final against
Getafe, one of which was very similar to Maradona's
famous goal against
England at the
1986 World Cup in Mexico, known as the
Goal of the Century.
[45] The world's sports press drew comparisons with Maradona, and the Spanish press labelled Messi as "Messidona".
[46] He ran about the same distance, 62 metres (203 ft), beat the same number of players (six, including the goalkeeper), scored from a very similar position, and ran towards the corner flag just as Maradona did in Mexico 21 years before.
[44] In a press conference after the game, Messi's team-mate
Deco said: "It was the best goal I have ever seen in my life."
[47] Against
Espanyol Messi also scored a goal which was remarkably similar to
Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal against England in the World Cup quarter-finals. Messi launched himself at the ball and connected with his hand to guide the ball past the goalkeeper
Carlos Kameni.
[48] Despite protests by Espanyol players and replays showing it was clear
handball, the goal stood.
[48]
2007–08 season
Messi takes Barcelona to 2–0 against Sevilla at Camp Nou on 22 September 2007
During the
2007–08 season, Messi scored five goals in a week leading Barcelona to the top four in La Liga. On 19 September he scored once as Barcelona defeated
Lyon 3–0 at home in a
Champions League match.
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