FIRSTS
1. At the tender age of 13, Lionel Messi officially became a part of Barcelona when Charly Rexach penned a contract with the Argentine’s signature on a napkin (!) at a restaurant in the Catalan capital.
2. Messi’s debut for Argentina happened as an 18-year-old substitute in a friendly against Hungary. The prodigy was sent off for an attempted head-butt just 30 seconds after stepping onto the field.
3. Messi’s first goal for Barcelona came on May 1, 2005, against Albacete. Technically, that should have been Messi’s second, for minutes earlier he had found the net with a delectable dink over the keeper that was incorrectly ruled out for offside. Never one to grumble for long, Messi simply repeated the trick moments later to score the first of many, many more in the Blaugrana shirt.
4. Despite being the face of Adidas for more than a decade, Messi, ironically enough, was first sponsored by Nike.
5. Leo is the first footballer to have a theme park based on him. This unique site will open in 2019 in Nanjing, China, and consist of virtual and augmented technology to give fans a taste of all things Messi.
FAMILY
6. Lionel is the third of four children born to Jorge Messi and Celia Cuccittini. He is primarily of Italian descent and shares his hometown of Rosario with Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara.
7. After every goal that he scores, Messi points skywards to pay tribute to his grandmother, the person the world should thank for introducing Messi to the game of football.
8. Messi is set to marry long-time partner Antonella Roccuzzo on June 30. Antonella is a cousin of Messi’s close friend Lucas Scaglia. Leo first met his to-be wife at the age of five. The couple have two sons together called Thiago and Mateo.
BOYHOOD TALES
9. Once during a youth championship game in his native Rosario, Messi was locked up by his opponents (mostly kids) in the toilet. With his team trailing at half-time, Messi broke the window of the washroom and ran onto the field. He went on to score a hat-trick to win it 3-2.
10. Leo might never have been at Barcelona were it not for his growth hormone deficiency syndrome. Argentine giants River Plate had agreed to sign Messi as a kid but admitted their inability to maintain his medical expenditure. Desperate to find a club to fund their child’s treatment, Messi’s parents contacted cousins in Catalonia, who in turn communicated with the FC Barcelona authority.
11. Messi has declared in the past that if he were to leave Barcelona to play elsewhere, it would be for his hometown club Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario, the team for whom he played prior to his move to Spain.
FAVOURITES AND HABITS
12. As a teenager, Messi used to idolise Pablo Aimar, the Argentine midfielder formerly of River Plate, Valencia and Benfica.
13. Messi likes spending his free time competing on the PlayStation, taking his dog for a walk and listening to music, with Samba and Cumbia being his favourites.
14. Leo possesses a car collection valued at a neat US $9.3 million, including a Ferrari F430 Spider, an Audi Q7, a Toyota Prius and a Maserati GranTurismo.
15. Messi rates his towering header in the 2009 Champions League final against Manchester United in Rome as his favourite among the mere 565 goals he has scored till date.
16. The Argentine has a plethora of tattoos, starting with his left calf that sports a football, a sword and the number 10 besides Thiago’s (son) hand-prints. His right arm has an imprint of Jesus Christ and a lotus, among other things. His first ever tattoo (on his left shoulder) is that of his mother’s face.
17. Messi’s favourite dish is homemade Milanesa Napolitana, an Argentine preparation consisting of ham, fried beef, cheese, tomatoes and onions and served with French fries.
18. Leo has named Disneyland as his favourite holiday destination. His dribbling skills often look straight out of a Disney movie.
19. Leo often gets so tense before kick-off that he vomits. Throwing up off the field is a part of the pre-match Messi routine just as throwing in the towel is a habit for his opponents once he takes the pitch.
NUMBERS AND RECORDS
20. With 29 strikes, Spanish outfit Sevilla are the team against which Messi has scored the most number of goals.
21. Dani Alves, now at Juventus, has provided the most assists to Messi with 42.
22. In the 2012-13 season, Messi scored in 21 La Liga games on the trot, netting 33 times in the process, and becoming the first man to score against every team in the Spanish top flight (apart from Barca, of course) consecutively.
MISCELLANEOUS MESSI FACTS
23. Messi has won a World Cup with Argentina — the U-20 in 2005. In that tournament in Netherlands, Leo was both top-scorer and best player.
24. After Barcelona won the 2006 Champions League final versus Arsenal in Paris, Messi remained in the dressing room and refused to celebrate as he was bitterly disappointed for sitting out due to injury.
25. Messi had his own “Hand of God” moment against Espanyol in 2007, when complicit refereeing meant that his left-handed strike decided the derby in favour of Barca.
26. During the 2009-10 season, Leo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic shared a rather frosty dynamic. Messi felt that the Swede had taken over from him as the main man at Barca. But once Leo sent a text to then coach Pep Guardiola saying, “I see I’m not important anymore”, Ibra’s time was up. The very next summer, Zlatan was offloaded to AC Milan and Messi emerged as the Boss of Barcelona.
27. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were born on February 5, 1985, and June 24, 1987, respectively, that is, 869 days apart. Incredibly enough, this is the same difference in age between Ronaldo’s son Cristiano Junior (born June 17, 2010) and Messi’s first son Thiago (born November 2, 2012).
28. In a series of commercials for Herbalife, Messi is seen taking to other sports, including ping-pong, cricket and basketball. Initially, the Argentine looks like a fish out of water, but then his mercurial left foot comes to the rescue to turn the tables on his opponents!
29. Have you too harboured a dream of seeing Messi alongside other sporting legends? If yes, check out the Gillette and Turkish Airlines commercials, where Messi competes in a shaving challenge with tennis great Roger Federer and clicks selfies with basketball superstar Kobie Bryant.
30. “Messi is pure gold” is something all his admirers have said at some point. Japanese jewellers Ginza Tanaka took this quite literally when they cast Messi’s left foot in pure gold — a marvellous sculpture completed in 2013 that was valued at US $5.25 million dollars.
Compiled by Priyam Marik
