The story of football genius Lionel Messi by Petr Čermák
Lionel Messi, now one of the best footballers in history alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Pelé, Maradona and Cruiff, and undoubtedly the most technically accomplished player, never ceases to thank two ordinary and extraordinary women, his mother and above all his grandmother, for his amazing career.
The path that Leo, until today a basically humble boy, took to great fame is like a story from a fantasy film. Its basis was that he loved the ball since he was four years old. "Drobek", as they called him, at eleven he controls the ball like a magician, everyone at school wants to play with him because he scores the most goals. But - as the footballing heavens bestow Leo with talent, they also take away his height in his pre-pubescent years. He's not getting enough growth hormone and at twelve thirteen he's barely a hundred and thirty centimeters! A dwarf boy, often ill, even though he appears to be a genius, will never make it to the big football, the coaches see. Physically, he just can't handle the game. They're afraid to stand Leo up at all, he's in danger of being stomped into the ground by the much larger opponents. Who's gonna take this on?
First the traditional club from Rosario, Atlético Newell's Old Boys. When the boy puts on his red and black colours, he is seven years old, but no one knows about his future woes. He rolls like a football idol, so no one thinks about his fragile growth. The first question marks arrive and their puzzle comes after Leo's tenth birthday. Resumé looks unambiguous. If this unique talent wants to make it big, he must undergo a demanding hormone treatment. But who will pay for it when her parents, the slowly desperate Célie and Jorge, don't have the means?
After some complicated vicissitudes, thirteen-year-old Lionel flies ten thousand kilometres to the academy of Barcelona, the exceptional hatchery of La Masia. The blue-red "blaugranas" in 2000 rather only suspected that they were acquiring a unique talent, but they would only learn that they were the owners of the most valuable football jewel of our time a few years later.
Leo will grow to 169 centimetres under the supervision of the best experts. At just eighteen, he will wear the Barca first team jersey and lead Argentina to the 20-year-old World Cup title. In 2009, at the age of 22, he will win the Ballon d'Or for the first time for the best footballer on the planet. He will replace Cristiano Ronaldo on the throne and will be the first footballer in history to lift the most valuable individual trophy over his head five times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015)! "I would like to become a world champion with Argentina. ”