Talented Footballer
I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT HIS LIFE, HIS ROAD TO SUCCESS, AND HIS ACHIEVEMENTS
A. HISTORY
Lionel was the third of the couple’s three boys—his older brothers are named Matias and Rodrigo. Lionel also has a sister, Maria Sol. -Beginning of soccer: All three boys played, and Jorge coached a local youth team. Lionel joined his dad’s club at the age of five. He was extremely small for his age but extremely talented as well. Lionel showed enough at the youth-soccer level to earn a development spot with the top local club, Newell’s Old Boys. He joined the team at the age of eight. Transition: The problem, of course, was his size. While teammates the same age grew an inch or two each year, Lionel’s progress was painfully slow.
B. ROAD TO SUCCESS
His “small” problem: After Lionel turned 11, the Messi’s were informed by doctors that their talented son had a hormone deficiency. Growth hormone therapy would cost between $500 and $1,000 a month. Even do Club Atletico River Plate was at first was interested they could not afford such treatment. The only other team they at connections with was FC Barcelona but that would be asking too much. -Barcelona Trials: FC Barcelona’s director, Carles Rexach, had heard about the boy’s talent through the Messi’s relatives in Catalonia and was unafraid by the price tag of growth hormone therapy. Jorge and Lionel traveled o Spain, and Rexach granted the boy a tryout. He passed and joined La Masia, Barcelona’s youth academy soccer program. Lionel joined Barcelona’s U-14 squad and became the best player on the team. As he learned the nuances of the game, he moved rapidly through the organization, joining the C team and then the B team before earning a spot with the club’s A team. Lionel made his debut for FC Barcelona in a non-league game against FC Porto in November of 2003. He was six months pat his 16th birthday. (10 SEC of Messi taking on players and scoring)
C. ACHIEVEMENTS
RCD Epyol-FC Barcelona (0-1, League), 16/10/2004 -On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona – against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old – At the Under 20 World Cup in Holland, Messi not only won the title with Argentina but was also the leading goalscorer and was voted best player in the tournament. -His breakthrough came in the 2005-06 season -On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona – against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old He continued to develop in the 2007/08 campaign when he scored 16 goals and gave 10 assists in the 40 games he played in. -In the summer of 2008, he also played at the Beijing Olympics and came home with a gold medal. -In the 2008/09 season, and now without Ronaldinho alongside him, Messi became the main star of the Barca show. -He managed to stay injury-free all season, and played 51 games, scoring 38 goals. -In 2009, he finally won both the FIFA World Player and Ballon d’Or. How far can Leo Messi go? He was the league’s top scorer in the 2009-10 season and equaled Ronaldo’s historic total of 34 goals (96-97).
He scored the goal against Estudiantes that won Barca the Club’s first World Club Cup. -But without settling for that, the Argentinian went even further in the 2010/11 season, scoring no fewer than 53 official goals, a Spanish record only matched by Cristiano Ronaldo (that very same season) -In 2011, he also won the Ballon d’Or for the third time -In the season 2011/12 Messi moves past Cesar Rodriguez’s record of 232 goals to become the Club’s all-time top goalscorer. -Messi is also captain of the Argentina national and has played in two World Cups (2006 and 2010) and two Copa Americas (2007 and 2011).
Transition: To wrap things up I just want to say he his only 25 years. He still likes more to give and more to receive. One of the biggest soccer events is about to start, World Cup 2014 his going to be and no doubt he will be in the spotlight. Conclusion: Although it is still too early to tell we can surely say we are looking at the legend in the making
Reference
- “Lionel Messi Worlds Greatest Player. ” Dailymotion. N. p. , n. d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.
- “Lionel MESSI. ” FIFA. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. . “Messi 10. ” Messi. N. p. , n. d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. .
