He was Born Luis Lionel Andres Messi on June 24th 1987, in Rosario, Santa Fe Argentina to Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory worker and Celia Maria Cuccittini, a part time cleaner. He is considered as one of the best players in the world. He currently plays for the La Liga side Barcelona and the National team of Argentina. He has received several awards including the FIFA world Player of the Year Award and the Ballon d’Or. Most people compare him to the football legend Diego Maradona in terms of his ability and playing style.
Messi started playing football when he was five years old at the Grandoli, a local club that his father Jorge coached. He then played at Newell’s Old Boys, a club based at his home city of Rosario. At 11 years, Lionel Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency and although some clubs such as River Plate in the Primera division were interested in his skills, it did not have enough money for his treatment, which cost $900 per month. His breakthrough came when Barcelona signed him up after it saw his performance of the field. They were wiling to pay the treatment bills if Messi would agree to move to Spain. The whole family, including his brothers Rodrigo and Matias and his sister Maria Sol moved to Europe where he started at Barcelona’s youth team.
His debut for Barcelona was in 2003 in a friendly match with Porto as their opponents and the following year the then coach of Barcelona Frank Rijkaard made him debut in the league against Espanyol in 2004, when he was just 17 years old. He became the youngest player in Barcelona FC and La Liga, though the record was broken by Bojan Krkic in September 2007. He then became a first team member in 2005/06 season when his team ended as the champions in Spain and Europe. He also obtained Spanish Citizenship in 2005, allowing him to play in the Spanish First Division.
In his international career, he has played in a friendly match against Paraguay with the under 20 team. In 2005, the team won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship when he won the Golden Shoe and the Golden Ball. He became the youngest player to represent Argentina in the World cup in 2006. In 2010’s World Cup, Messi played all games for Argentina.
In his personal life, Messi has been linked to Luciana Salazar, a glamour model and Macarena Lemos, who hails from his home town Rosario. He announced that he has a girlfriend back in Argentina. The girl is Antonella Roccuzzo, a native of Rosario and they are planning to wed at the end of 2010.
Messi has been involved in Charity and has established the Fundacion Leo Messi which supports access to health and education for vulnerable children. It covers all the expenses including transport, treatment and recovery costs for the Argentine children diagnosed with medical conditions. He was announced as the Goodwill ambassador for UNICEF in 2010 supporting the rights of the children. His team Barcelona, which is strongly associated with UNICEF, also supports him.