Lionel Messi - Footballer Extraordinaire
He is one of the most impressive football players in the world. Adored by fans and comrades alike, Lionel Messi profile is one for the history books. He is one of the legends in the modern day football. His speed, agility, stamina and goal scoring abilities are parallel to none. He is what comes up in your mind when you hear the phrase ‘the greatest football player in the world’.
If you are a diehard Lionel Messi fan or at least an aspiring one, then there are a few important and interesting facts and trivia you need to be aware of about this stalwart sports star and they are as follows:
• Great things come in small packages. Lionel Messi is a true testament to that old proverbial saying. He is one of the shortest football players in the world, standing at just 5ft 6.5. As a child he was diagnosed with deficiency in the growth hormones. Sadly, his parents were not able to afford his treatment which cost Dollar900 a month. But Luck was on Messi’s side. He was scouted by Barcelona club who offered to foot his medical bills and the rest, as they say, is history.
• He has three prestigious ‘Ballon d’Ors’ to his name. He is the fourth player to achieve the same. During the 2009 Ballon d’Ors, he was up against his favorite rival Cristiano Ronaldo. He won by a landslide of 473 votes of the total 480.
• He was the just seventeen when he debuted in La Liga, making him the youngest player to play in the tournament. He is also the youngest player to score in La Liga.
• He has amassed an astounding tally of two hundred and forty seven goals in both International and club league games.
• Messi was adjudged the World Soccer Magazine’s Young Player of the Year, consecutively for three years.
• Lionel Messi is infamously referred to as the ‘Flea’.
• He was named Latino Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2007.
• Messi's annual salary amounts to more than $45 million which he earns in bonuses and endorsements. His name is among the world’s Top 10 earning athletes.
• He scored his hundredth goal for Barcelona in a game against Sevilla in 2010.
• He is quite the philanthropist. He is involved with a number of charitable institutions that support children. He has a charity of his own known as the Leo Messi Foundation. He is also a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.
