5 reasons why we love Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has cemented his place among the very best to have ever graced the football pitch. The diminutive Argentine has won all that there is to win with his club, sadly the same cannot be said with country, and has done so with a smile on his face and and with an unrelenting panache.
8 league titles, 5 Ballon d’Ors, 4 Champions Leagues and many more trophies later not only is Messi one of the most decorated footballers of all-time but also one who is unequivocally loved by one and all.
It is not just his dribbling skills or his nose to sniff out a goal from nothing that makes him one of the most revered footballers of all time but the explanation lies deeper and a closer look at his life tells you why exactly he is loved, like he is…
Here are 5 reasons why we – football fans and not just Barcelona fans – love Lionel Messi:
Overcoming obstacles since his childhood
Growing in the streets of Rosario, Argentina, Messi was undoubtedly supremely gifted and everyone realised that since the moment he touched a football. However, he just didn’t become the superstar he is by being supremely gifted he had to overcome countless obstacles, the biggest of which was the growth hormone deficiency that he suffered from.
At a tender age Leo was diagnosed to have been suffering from a growth hormone deficiency which not only put his footballing career in jeopardy but also threatened to shunt his physical development. The only recourse that he had was to resort to externally providing his body the hormones that it required and he had to do so by injecting himself with a dose directly into his legs every day.
The cost of the treatment was way too much for his hometown club Newell’s Old Boys and after a certain point of time they refused to fund it. Left with no other option, Messi’s father – Jorge – had to look for help in foreign shores and he found it from Barcelona. A 13-year-old Messi moved to Barcelona to undergo his physical development where he would continue his growth as a footballer.
Despite the growth hormone injections Messi could only reach a height of 1.7 metres, relatively small for a footballer. However, this proved to be both a bane and a boon. While his short stature prevented him from asserting his physical dominance on the field, allowing more athletic players to bully him off the field. Forced to develop his game according to his height, Messi worked on his close control of the ball and on the skills required to get out of tight spots making his height disadvantage work in his favour.
He didn’t just become one of the all time greats, he sacrificed, he pierced himself and had to put in hard yards and the rest as they say… is history.