The Indomitable Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini

Born on 24 June 1987, Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini was the third of the four children born to Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager by profession, and his wife Celia Cuccittini working in a magnet manufacturing workshop. Messi, an Argentinian soccer player who plays forward for the FC Barcelona club and the Argentine national team was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. One glance at him was sure enough to make out that this child cannot play but he was a different child, born with a phenomenon to be impressive. He developed the passion for the sport and played with his brothers from a very tender age. At the age of four, Messi joined the local club Grandoli, where he was coached by his father and later on by his maternal grandmother who accompanied him to matches and training centers and Messi was quite affected by her death as well. He has a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards that were won by him consecutively, along with a record-tying four European Golden Shoes.

Messi's entire professional career was spent with Barcelona, and he won 30 trophies, that included eight La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and five Copas del Rey.

Messi made his debut at the age of 17 in 2004 and established himself as a successful player within the next three years and finally at 22, he won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins. Being an Argentine international, he has always remained an all-time lead goalscorer of his team.

Messi is a left-footed dribbler and often being compared with Diego Maradona, who had already declared this young talent as his successor. Though he had announced his international retirement in 2016, he reverted his decision and led his country to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

By: Subrata Dey

Content: Wikipedia