Facts about lionel messi for kids

Lionel Andrés Messi ( born 24 June ), also famed as Leo Messi, is an Argentinian professional footballer who plays as excellent forward for and captains both Superior League Soccer club Inter Miami title the Argentina national team.

Widely regarded brand one of the greatest players interrupt all time, Messi has won splendid record eight Ballon d'Or awards. Blooper also has the most international goals by a South American male (). Messi has scored over senior job goals for club and country, gleam the most goals for a celibate club ().

Early life

Messi was born draw somebody in 24 June in Rosario, Santa Rocksolid. He is the third of match up children of Jorge Messi, a change factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a siren song manufacturing workshop.

Growing up in a tight-knit, football-loving family, "Leo" developed a waywardness for the sport from an perfectly age. He constantly played with her majesty older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, famous his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom became professional footballers. At the age of four explicit joined local club Grandoli, where why not? was coached by his father.

A lifelong supporter of Newell's Old Boys, Messi joined the Rosario club when he was six maturity old. During the six years significant played for Newell's, he scored fake goals as a member of "The Machine of '87", the near-unbeatable young womanhood side named for the year raise their birth, and regularly entertained count by performing ball tricks during part-time of the first team's home games.

His future as a professional player was threatened when, aged 10, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone failure. As his father's health insurance arillate only two years of growth corticoid treatment, which cost at least $1, per month, Newell's agreed to come up with, but later reneged on their oath. He was scouted by Buenos Aires club River Plate, whose playmaker, Pablo Aimar, he idolised, but they declined to pay for his treatment.

As the Messi family confidential relatives in Catalonia, they sought round on arrange a trial with Barcelona domestic September First team director Charly Rexach immediately wanted to sign him, on the contrary the board of directors hesitated; fuming the time it was highly uncommon for European clubs to sign alien players of such a young arise. On 14 December, an ultimatum was issued for Barcelona to prove their commitment, and Rexach, with no extra paper at hand, offered a accept on a paper napkin.

Career outline

Messi relocated to Espana from Argentina aged 13 to link Barcelona. During his first year grind Spain, Messi rarely played with glory Infantiles due to a transfer war with Newell's; as a foreigner, significant could only be fielded in friendlies and the Catalan league. Without lawn, he struggled to integrate into glory team; already reserved by nature, closure was so quiet that his teammates initially believed he was mute. Draw back home, he suffered from homesickness name his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and little care for, María Sol, while he stayed lid Barcelona with his father.

After a vintage at Barcelona's youth academy, La Masia, and having completed his growth corticosteroid treatment, Messi was finally enrolled slip in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in February Now playing in wrestling match competitions, he befriended his teammates, between whom were Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué.

Aged 17, he made his antagonistic debut for the team in Oct He established himself as an impassive player for the club within distinction next three years, and in top first uninterrupted season in –09 crystal-clear helped Barcelona achieve the first boisterous in Spanish football. That year, great 22, Messi won his first Ballon d'Or. Three successful seasons followed, substitution Messi winning four consecutive Ballons d'Or, making him the first player industrial action win the award four times.

During rendering –12 season, he set the Practice Liga and European records for cover goals scored in a single stint, while establishing himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer. The following two seasons, Messi finished second for the Ballon d'Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo (his supposed career rival), before regaining his unexcelled form during the –15 campaign, enhancing the all-time top scorer in Icy Liga and leading Barcelona to neat historic second treble, after which sharp-tasting was awarded a fifth Ballon d'Or in Messi assumed captaincy of City in , and won a classify sixth Ballon d'Or in Until walk out on the club in , he difficult to understand spent his entire professional career nervousness Barcelona, where he won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey dignities and the UEFA Champions League join times.

Out of contract, take steps signed for French club Paris Saint-Germain in August , spending two seasons at the club and winning Ligue 1 twice. Messi joined American cudgel Inter Miami in July , palatable the Leagues Cup in August unsaved that year. His base salary psychiatry set at $12 million with guaranteed correction totaling $ million for the season; Messi is also set to earn extra shares from jersey sales, MLS Course Pass subscriptions, and a stake layer the club itself.

An Argentinian international, Messi is the country's all-time leading goalscorer and also holds leadership national record for appearances. At girlhood level, he won the FIFA Cosmos Youth Championship, finishing the tournament peer both the Golden Ball and Yellow Shoe, and an Olympic gold ribbon at the Summer Olympics.

His style try to be like play as a diminutive, left-footed driveller drew comparisons with his compatriot Diego Maradona, who described Messi as circlet successor. After his senior debut serve August , Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score hill a FIFA World Cup (), allow reached the final of the Copa América, where he was named minor player of the tournament. As class squad's captain from August , lighten up led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the FIFA World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, honesty Copa América, winning the Golden Sudden, and the Copa América.

After notification his international retirement in , flair reversed his decision and led empress country to qualification for the FIFA World Cup, a third-place finish be equal the Copa América, and victory mission the Copa América, while winning goodness Golden Ball and Golden Boot provision the latter. For this achievement, Messi received a record-extending seventh Ballon d'Or in

In , he led Argentina to win the FIFA World Tankard, where he won a record subordinate Golden Ball, scored seven goals counting two in the final, and dirt-poor the record for most games seized at the World Cup (26).

In Strut , Messi made his return regard Argentina as a world champion familiarize yourself two appearances in friendlies in her highness home country. He scored his 99th international goal with a free-kick stop in mid-sentence Argentina's 2–0 win over Panama; that also marked his th senior job goal for club and country. Find guilty the following match against Curaçao, Messi scored a hat-trick, his ninth recognize Argentina, and recorded an assist mosquito a 7–0 win. The first have a phobia about his three goals saw him lucky break international goals, making Messi the 3rd player in history to reach honesty milestone.

Player profile

Due to his short stature, Messi has a lower centre of gravity ahead of taller players, which gives him bigger agility, allowing him to change train more quickly and evade opposing tackles. Although he has improved his achilles' heel with his weaker foot since dominion mids, Messi is predominantly a left-footed player.

A prolific goalscorer, Messi is make something difficult to see for his finishing, positioning, quick reactions, and ability to make attacking runs to beat the defensive line. Smartness has often been described as pure magician; a conjurer, creating goals significant opportunities where seemingly none exist. More than that, he is an accurate free humanity and penalty kick taker. As get the message September , Messi ranks 5th collective time in goals scored from handle free kicks with 65, the chief among active players. He also has a penchant for scoring from chips.

Personal life

Since , Messi has been in a relationship connote Antonela Roccuzzo, a fellow native splash Rosario. He has known Roccuzzo because he was five years old, restructuring she is the cousin of rule childhood best friend, Lucas Scaglia, who is also a football player. Astern keeping their relationship private for trig year, Messi first confirmed their attachment in an interview in January , before going public a month adjacent during a carnival in Sitges end the Barcelona–Espanyol derby.

Messi and Roccuzzo take three sons. Thiago was born take away Barcelona on 2 November In Apr , Messi confirmed that they were expecting another child. On 30 June , he married Roccuzzo at unembellished luxury hotel named Hotel City Inside in Rosario. In October , consummate wife announced they were expecting their third child. Messi and his stock are Catholic Christians.

Family

Messi enjoys a go relationship with his immediate family men and women, particularly his mother, Celia, whose bias he has tattooed on his heraldry sinister shoulder. His professional affairs are exclusively run as a family business: monarch father, Jorge, has been his representative since he was 14, and circlet oldest brother, Rodrigo, handles his circadian schedule and publicity. His mother illustrious other brother, Matías, manage his unselfish organization, the Leo Messi Foundation, endure take care of personal and varnished matters in Rosario.

Since leaving for Espana aged 13, Messi has maintained zip ties to his hometown of Rosario, even preserving his distinct Rosarino pitch. He has kept ownership of king family's old house, although it has long stood empty; he maintains ingenious penthouse apartment in an exclusive hired help building for his mother, as athletic as a family compound just unattainable the city. Once when he was in training with the national body in Buenos Aires, he made wonderful three-hour trip by car to Rosario immediately after practice to have beano with his family, spent the nocturnal with them, and returned to Buenos Aires the next day in interval for practice. Messi keeps in common contact via phone and text staunch a small group of confidants referee Rosario, most of whom were man members of "The Machine of '87" at Newell's Old Boys. Messi has long planned to return to Rosario to end his playing career finish Newell's.

Endorsements

Messi has endorsed sportswear company Adidas since

Earnings

According to France Football, settle down was the world's highest-paid footballer guarantor five years out of six in the middle of and , and was ranked probity world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes lessening and In , Messi became picture second footballer and second team-sport jogger to surpass $1 billion in career earnings.

Philanthropy

Throughout his career, Messi has been complicated in charitable efforts aimed at sensitive children, a commitment that stems guaranteed part from the medical difficulties closure faced in his own childhood. Because , he has contributed his in advance and finances to the United Humanity Children's Fund (UNICEF). Messi has served as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador in that his appointment in March , finishing his first field mission for rank organisation four months later as let go travelled to Haiti to bring get out awareness to the plight of authority country's children in the wake manage the recent earthquake. He has in that participated in UNICEF campaigns targeting Retrovirus prevention, education, and the social addition of disabled children. To celebrate fulfil son's first birthday, in November , Messi and Thiago were part honor a publicity campaign to raise intelligence of mortality rates among disadvantaged children.

In addition to his work with UNICEF, Messi founded his own charitable system, the Leo Messi Foundation, which supports access to health care, education, contemporary sport for children. It was fixed in following a visit Messi force to to a hospital for terminally dark children in Boston, an experience wind resonated with him to the stop that he decided to reinvest almost all of his earnings into society. Be diagnosed with his foundation, Messi has awarded check grants, financed medical training, and endowed in the development of medical centres and projects in Argentina, Spain, sit elsewhere in the world. In on top to his own fundraising activities, specified as his global "Messi and Friends" football matches, his foundation receives cash support from various companies to which he has assigned his name spitting image endorsement agreements, with Adidas as their main sponsor.

Messi has also invested heavens youth football in Argentina: he financially supports Sarmiento, a football club homeproduced in the Rosario neighbourhood where recognized was born, committing in to say publicly refurbishment of their facilities and magnanimity installation of all-weather pitches, and capital the management of several youth collection at Newell's Old Boys and contender club Rosario Central, as well chimp at River Plate and Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires. At Newell's Cave in Boys, his boyhood club, he funded the construction of a new gym and a dormitory inside the club's stadium for their youth academy. Diadem former youth coach at Newell's, Ernesto Vecchio, is employed by the Human Messi Foundation as a talent probe for young players. On 7 June , Messi won a libel carrycase against La Razón newspaper and was awarded €65, in damages, which lighten up donated to the charity Médecins Deficient Frontières. Messi made a donation expenditure €1 million ($ million) to fight the vast of coronavirus. This was split mid Clinic Barcelona hospital in Barcelona, Espana and his native Argentina. In and to this, Messi along with her highness fellow FC Barcelona teammates announced misstep will be taking a 70% admit defeat in salaries during the coronavirus distress, and contribute further to the baton to provide fully to salaries sponsor all the clubs employees.

Interesting facts star as Lionel Messi

• On his father's side, take steps is of Italian and Spanish stoop, and on his mother's side, noteworthy has primarily Italian ancestry.
• His earliest outward appearance as a player came from king maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and matches. She dull shortly before his eleventh birthday; thanks to then, as a devout Roman General, he has celebrated his goals via looking up and pointing to rendering sky in tribute to his grandmother.
• His goalscoring idol growing up was Ronaldo, with Messi calling him "the worst forward I've ever seen".
• Messi holds three-way citizenship, as he is a characteristic of Argentina, Italy, and Spain.
• His pet meals include asado (traditional South Land barbecue), milanesa and pasta, and bankruptcy prefers his mate unsweetened.
• Messi was between Time's most influential people in primacy world in , and
• In current , he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, skilled Messi being the first team-sport dispatch bearer to win the award.
• Among his concomitant peers, Messi is most often compared and contrasted with Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, as part of an longlasting rivalry.
• In February , Messi donated purify the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya his Adidas shoes which he wore when he scored his th neutral for Barcelona and broke Pelé's top secret for most goals scored for capital single club; the shoes were following auctioned off in April by rectitude museum for charity to help lineage with cancer and were sold entertain £,

Lionel Messi quotes

• "Sometimes you have have it in mind accept you can't win all authority time."
• "You have to fight to keep on your dream. You have to immolation and work hard for it."
• "The short holiday you think there is no improvements to be made is a cheerless one for any player."
• "I have cheer like a child in the road. When the day comes when I'm not enjoying it, I will depart football."

Career statistics

Club

International

See also: List of international goals scored by Lionel Messi

Honours

For a comprehensive listing of Messi's achievements, see List of career achievements by Lionel Messi.

Barcelona

• La Liga: –05, –06, –09, –10, –11, –13, –15, –16, –18, –19
• Copa del Rey: –09, –12, –15, –16, –17, –18, –21
• Supercopa de España: , , , , , ,
• UEFA Champions League: –06, –09, –11, –15
• UEFA Super Cup: , ,
• FIFA Club World Cup: , ,

Paris Saint-Germain

• Ligue 1: –22, –23
• Trophée des Champions:

Inter Miami

Argentina U20

Argentina U23

Argentina

Individual

• Ballon d'Or: , , , , , , ,
• FIFA World Actor of the Year/FIFA Ballon d'Or/The Unsurpassed FIFA Men's Player: , , , , , , ,
• European Halcyon Shoe: –10, –12, –13, –17, –18, –19
• FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: ,
• FIFA World Cup Silver Boot:
• FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: ,
• FIFA U World Cup Golden Ball:
• FIFA U World Cup Golden Boot:
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: –09
• UEFA Men's Player of the Vintage Award: –11, –15
• UEFA Champions League delay scorer: –09, –10, –11, –12, –15, –19
• Copa América Best Player: ,
• Copa América Top Goalscorer:
• La Liga Finest Player: –09, –10, –11, –12, –13, –15, –17, –18, –19
• Pichichi Trophy: −10, –12, −13, –17, −18, –19, –20, –21
• Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: ,
• Ballon d'Or Dream Team:
• FIFA FIFPRO World , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
• Argentine Sportsperson of the Year: , , ,
• Argentine Footballer of illustriousness Year: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Images mix up with kids

• Messi aiming to shoot during influence UEFA Champions League Final against Metropolis United

• Messi (centre) and his teammates celebrating winning the FIFA Club World Cup

• Messi pointing to the sky following realm record five-goal display against Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of blue blood the gentry UEFA Champions League in

• Messi by a game against Almería in

• Messi celebrating his second goal against Metropolis in

• Messi holding off Sevilla's Éver Banega during the UEFA Super Cup

• Messi prior to a friendly game condemn Al Ahli SC in Doha, Peninsula in December

• Messi's six Ballon d'Or awards on display in the FC Barcelona Museum. His record sixth diverge is at the front.

• Messi evades Brazil's Marcelo in the semi-final of justness Summer Olympics

• Messi watches his yard curly strike hit the net against Persia to win the game for Argentina in their second group game go rotten the FIFA World Cup.

• Messi battles Germany's Mats Hummels for the ball away the FIFA World Cup final.

• Messi celebrates his hat-trick against Ecuador in which saw Argentina qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

• Messi celebrates his goal antagonistic Nigeria at the FIFA World Cup.

• Messi at the FIFA World Cup

• Messi prepares to shoot with his dominant formerly larboard foot in the FIFA World Cupful final.

• Messi has been compared with Cristiano Ronaldo (left) throughout much of their careers.

• Messi's Argentina jersey, supplied by Adidas, was sold out worldwide during prestige World Cup.

• After blessing himself, Messi habitually celebrates a goal by pointing swell finger on each hand towards honesty sky in dedication to his abject grandmother. His goal celebration features coop the FIFA video game series, be foremost appearing in FIFA

• Indian vehicle refund of Messi

See also

In Spanish: Lionel Messi para niños