Messi: The must-read biography of the World Cup champion, now fully updated (Guillem Balague's Books)

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I have changed nothing, my style of play is still that of a child. I know that above all it is my job and that I should approach it in another way, but one must not lose sight of the fact that football is a game. It is imperative one plays to amuse oneself, to be happy. That is what children do and I do the same thing.” (total Barca)

Because Messi was brought up in Spain, since he was 11 years old, he has Spanish nationality. In 2004, he was offered the chance to play for Spain’s Under 20 side, but Messi decided to play for Argentina, the country of his birth. He led Argentina to victory in the 2005 FIFA Youth Championship. Messi made his full international debut in August 2005, during a friendly against Hungary. In his first game, Messi was sent off for allegedly elbowing a player. The decision was contentious and not in keeping with Messi’s style of play which is generally clean and in the spirit of fair play; he has very rarely been accused of diving. After helping Barcelona achieve a historic second treble in 2015, he was honored with his fifth Ballon d’Or trophy. Four years later, following another La Liga title, Messi again established a new standard for excellence by claiming his sixth Ballon d’Or.In conclusion, another name for this book would be The Life Changer, and the author wrote this book to teach people not to give up. Messi has his personality and I have mine. He has his game and I have mine. I also play in a big club like him. We are different in every aspect. But right now, he is the best.” Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Messi was eventually diagnosed by doctors as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth. Messi’s parents, Jorge and Ceclia, decided on a regimen of nightly growth-hormone injections for their son, though it soon proved impossible to pay several hundred dollars per month for the medication. My record stood for 40 years – 85 goals in a year – and now the best player in the world has broken it, and I’m delighted for him. He is an incredible player, gigantic.”

In 2006, he participated in the World Cup, becoming Argentina’s youngest player to play in the world cup. Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals. In 2008, he won an Olympic gold medal for Argentina in football at the Beijing Olympics. Initially, Barcelona had not allowed him permission to play, but new coach Pep Guardiola allowed him time off. I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people. Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream. Messi steered Barcelona to a wealth of success, most notably in 2009, when the left-footer’s team captured the Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup titles. That same year, after two consecutive runner-up finishes, he took home his first FIFA World Player of the Year honor, as well as his first Ballon d’Or award, the top European individual honor in football. In the 2009-10 season, Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo’s record total for Barcelona. As the seasons have progressed, Messi kept improving and breaking his own records. In the calendar year of 2012, he broke the all-time world record for most goals scored in a calendar year. His final total of goals in 2012 was 91 – beating the previous record of 85 by German Gerd Muller, and Pele’s milestone of 75 in 1958.This short but sweet biography on world's best football star is a nice and easy way to warm up to the genre if you have yet to read one. The majority of the book is based off of a single interview done by Faccio with Leo Messi, and follows his football career from his first touch on the ball to his second Ballon d'Or trophy. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is an opportunity for Messi to make an impact on the highest stage of them all. In the opening game against, Bosnia – Herzegovina, Messi scored a great goal to give Argentina a winning start. He scored four goals to help Argentina reach the World Cup Final. In the final, Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany. Messi was awarded ‘Golden Ball’ player of the tournament, though the decision was not universally supported. After the tournament, Messi replied: Lionel Messi is a legend – Barcelona’s star player and the world’s best footballer. But when was young, he was so small that his friends called him ‘Little Leo’ and coaches worried he wasn’t big enough. Yet through bravery, talent and hard work, he proved them wrong. Messi tells the magical story of how the tiniest boy in South America grew up to become the greatest player on earth. In the 2010 World Cup, Messi wore the number 10 shirt and played well to help Argentina reach the quarter-finals, but Messi struggled to score, and Argentina disappointingly lost 4-0 to Germany in the quarter-final. Messi has admitted he is desperate to play in a world cup final. Success for Messi in the World Cup would be the last test of greatness. Pele, by contrast, was part of Brazil’s three times winning World Cup side ’58, ’62 and ’70. At the start of 2013, in club football, Messi has scored 292 goals from a total of 359 appearances, and in international football, 31 goals from 76 appearances.

In July 2016, Messi suffered a blow off the soccer field when a Barcelona court found him and his father guilty of three counts of tax fraud. During a four-day trial, Messi and his father denied breaking the law and claimed they were unaware of any tax illegalities they had committed. Bought this for my 11-year-old grand-daughter as she really likes football, but not much of a reader. To be honest her dad read it to her, he said it was good to read about where it all started for Messi.” The amazing biography written by Leonardo Faccio on the best player in the world gives the reader an overview of how Messi became the best player in the world. Lionel Andress Messi was born on June 24th,1987 in Rosario, Argentina. At the age of only 13 years old, young Lionel Messi was moved to Spain after that Fc Barcelona agreed to pay hormone deficiency treatments. Hormone deficiency restricted Messi’s grown and could not grow as tall as the kids his age. Messi was an amazing player for his age, so Fc Barcelona offered a chance to Messi to train at La Masia and help his parents pay the meditation bills. Messi was an amazing player at the age of 13, he got to the Barcelona Junior team at the age of 16 while that people get there at the age of 18. Messi made several achievements that year, he broke the record of being the first youngest player at Barcelona to score for the first team and also let his national team to the under 20 World Cup. In 2009, Messi led Barcelona to win The UEFA Champions League, The League, and the Spanish Cup. Messi also took home with him his first Ballon d'Or. Messi broke all the records and scored more goals than legends who have played at the club. Today, Messi is the best player in the world, holding five Ballon D’ors, four Champions League, three UEFA best player of Europe, eight leagues, and four Spanish cup winners. Messi was also named a player of the year three times, top scorer fifteen times, one-time Olympic gold medalist and much more wins with the amazing Fc Barcelona team. Finally, one would describe Messi in three words: God of Soccer.Luis Lionel Andres “Leo” Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. As a young boy, Messi tagged along when his two older brothers played soccer with their friends, unintimidated by the bigger boys. At the age of 8, he was recruited to join the youth system of Newell’s Old Boys, a Rosario-based club. However, Messi returned to international football and led Argentina in the 2018 World Cup. Despite carrying the weight of expectation of a nation, the World Cup was considered a great disappointment. However, in the 2018/19 season, Messi returned to his usual scintillating performance with Barcelona. World Cup 2022 Messi acts as an ambassador for Unicef, and also runs his own charitable foundation – supporting access to education and sport for children. Because of his own expensive medical treatment, he has also helped Argentinian hospitals with paying for similar treatment to his own. Spanish La Liga title (*10) : 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16

My 8 year old football fan devoured this book and he’s not one for reading for hours. Would recommend this book.” To tell you the truth this is really quite unbelievable. The fourth award that I have had is just too great for words. ” ( BBC) Messi and Ronaldo Amazingly, the soccer wizard continued to improve, discovering new ways to elude defenders while leading Barcelona to La Liga and Spanish Super Cup championships in 2010 and 2011, as well as the ’11 Champions League title.Messi has often been compared to prolific Real Madrid goalscorer Christiano Ronaldo, but both have been keen to downplay the rivalry. Messi has won FIFA’s World Player Trophy a record seven times, including four consecutive wins between 2009 and 2011, and Europe’s Ballon d’Or a record eight times. He’s also won the European Golden Shoe for top scorer six times, two more than his nearest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo. Tax Fraud Scandal Messi was very small for his age and had a growing disease and he played for his team Argentina called the “ Newell’s young boys.” He immediately was the best player on the team and also the smallest player on the team.