Messi: Football legend makes history in Barcelona

By Ayomikun Oluwatimilehin

Luis Lionel Andres (Leo) Messi, an Argentinian soccer player who plays forward for the FC Barcelona Club and the Argentina national team scored 700th goal of his career on Tuesday, June 30; by converting a penalty kick against Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

Messi deceived  Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak with a chip down the middle of the goal post, at Camp Nou, where he hit another remarkable milestone for club and country.

Messi’s 700 goals include 630 for Barcelona and 70 for Argentina.

Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987; in Rosario, Argentina, to a working-class family Jorge and Cecilia. His father was a factory steelworker, and his mother a cleaner. Lionel was the third of the four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop. 

Growing up in a tight-knit football-loving family, Lionel developed a passion for football at early age, playing constantly with his older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom became professional footballers.

At the age of four he joined local club Grandoli, where he was coached by his father, though 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, as a devout Catholic, he always celebrate his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky in tribute to his grandmother.

A lifelong supporter of Newell's Old Boys, Messi joined the Rosario club when he was six years old. During the period he played for Newell's, he scored almost 500 goals as a member of "The Machine of '87", the near-unbeatable youth side and regularly entertained crowds by performing ball tricks during half-time of the first team's home games.

However, his future as a professional player was threatened when, at age 11, recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Messi was eventually diagnosed by doctors as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth. Messi's parents, Jorge and Ceclia, decided on a regimen of nightly growth-hormone injections for their son, though it soon proved impossible to pay several hundred dollars per month for the medication.

Growth Hormone Deficiency was a condition that stunted growth and required expensive medical treatment, including the use of drug Human Growth Hormone.

His local club, River Plate were interested in signing Messi but can not afford his medical treatment. However, Messi was given a trial with Barcelona, and coach Carles Rexach was impressed – offering Messi a contract, written on a paper, which included paying for Messi’s treatment in Spain. Messi moved to Barcelona with his father and became part of the prestigious FC Barcelona Youth Academy.

So, at the age of 13, when Messi was offered the chance to train at soccer powerhouse FC.

Barcelona's Youth Academy, La Masia, and have his medical bills covered by the team. Messi's family picked up and moved across the Atlantic to make a new home in Spain. Messi moved quickly through the junior system ranks. Messi has only played for FC Barcelona, where he first signed at age 13. He also plays for the Argentina national team.

By the age of 16, Messi made his first appearance for the FC Barcelona, putting himself in the record books on May 1, 2005, as the youngest player to ever score a goal for the franchise. That same year, he led Argentina to the title in the under-20 World Cup, scoring on a pair of penalty kicks to propel the team over Nigeria.

Messi steered Barcelona to a wealth of success, most notably in 2009, when the left-footer's team captured the Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup titles. That same year, after two consecutive runner-up finishes, he took home his first FIFA "World Player of the Year" honor/Ballon d'Or award. 

Amazingly, the soccer wizard continued to improve, discovering new ways to elude defenders while leading Barcelona to La Liga and Spanish Super Cup championships in 2010 and 2011, as well as the '11 Champions League title.

Lionel Messi

Messi embarked on an all-out assault on the record books in 2012. He became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League match in early March, and a few weeks later he surpassed Cesar Rodriguez's club-record 232 goals to become Barcelona's all-time leading scorer.  By the end of 2012, Messi had accumulated an astounding 91 goals in club and international play, eclipsing the 85 netted in a single calendar year by Gerd Muller in 1972. Fittingly, he broke another record when he was named the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner for the fourth time in January 2013.

The soccer great came back to earth somewhat that year due to the persistence of hamstring injuries, but he regained his record-breaking form by becoming the all-time leading scorer in La Liga and Champions League play in late 2014.

After helping Barcelona achieve a historic second treble in 2015, he was honored with his fifth FIFA Ballon d'Or trophy. Four years later, in 2019, following another La Liga title, Messi again established a new standard for excellence by claiming his sixth Ballon d'Or. 

Ultimately, Messi's short stature (5 feet, 7 inches), combined with his speed and relentless attacking style, has drawn comparisons to another famous Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona.