Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi was born on the 24th of June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. His father was a factory steel worker and his mother was a cleaner. He started to play football at a early age. When he was 11 years old, he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). It was a condition for his growth and needed expensive medical treatment. Local club, River Plate was interested in signing Messi, however they didn’t want to pay for his medical condition. Messi was then given a trial with Bracelona, and coach Carles Rexach was impressed and offered Messi a contract which included paying for his treatment in Spain. Messi moved to Barcelona with his father and joined the FC Barcelona youth academy. Messi continued to show progression and finally got his first appearance in 2004/2005, which made him the youngest player to score a league goal. 2006, Lionel was part of a double winning team who won both La Liga and Champions League. At the age of 20, Messi was the first choice striker and key part of the Barcelona team where he had scored 14 goals in 26 leagues.