Lionel Messi The Wonderboy

Full Name : Lionel Andres Messi

Birthday : 24th June 1987

Place of Birth : Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina

Position : Striker/Right Winger

1. He started playing football when he was just five years old at a club which was coached by his father

2. At the age of 11, Leo stop playing football because he have disease called hormone deficiency which disturbing his growth

3. Lionel Messi joined Barcelona in 2000 at the age of 13. Initially playing for the Under 14s, Messi moved up the ranks through the club’s Youth, C and B teams before joining the first team squad in record time

4. In 2003 he debuted for Barcelona in an unofficial game against FC Porto and after one year he debuted officially on Nou Camp against RCD Espaniol and became the third-youngest player ever to play for FC Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga (record broken by Bojan Krkić in September 2007)

5. At 18 Messi played for Argentina in the Under 20 World Cup and won the title. He was also voted best player of the tournament and was its leading goal scorer

6. Argentinean great Maradona has named Messi as his natural successor

7. The Spanish press have nicknamed him ‘Messidona’

8. When he came on to the pitch against Serbia and Montenegro in the 2006 World Cup, Messi became the youngest player to play for Argentina in a World Cup tournament. His goal in this match made him the youngest scorer of this World Cup and the sixth youngest scorer in the history of the tournament

9. The season 2005/2006, the Italian newspaper Tuttosport awarded him the Golden Boy 2005 title for the best under-21 player in Europe

10. Messi’s nickname with the Barcelona fans is Leo